Robbin Laird had an interview with CEO of Risk Intelligence, Hans Tino Hansen where he shared what he sees as the view from the Nordic side of the current Ukraine crisis and its implications.

15 February 2022

During the recent discussion with Robbin Laird, CEO of Risk Intelligence, Hans Tino Hansen had a chance to share his thoughts on the current situation and other important topics associated with it.

Answering the question ‘How does the current Ukraine crisis fit into the evolving history of European direct defense?’ Hans Tino Hansen explained: “With the preoccupation with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the West has in a certain sense had its head in the sand and developed a geopolitical blindness with regard to European geopolitics. Putin has not. And he has been working his approach to determine who in the West is willing to do what in meeting his ongoing demands.”

“Putin proposed several demands,” Hans Tino Hansen continued; “which he knew – as a self-fulfilling prophecy – the West could not accept. But what he is observing is that the European states along with the United States and Canada are laying out their real red lines. The Western written response to his demands stated very clearly in paragraph 12 of the reply that NATO would act to defend any NATO member. This means from Putin’s perspective, that NATO states would not directly defend Ukraine.”

During the discussion, Hans Tino Hansen shared his take on the topics of:

• Current geopolitics

• The response within Europe going forward

• The Nordic region’s views on Macron’s recent visit to Moscow?

• How Putin’s approach may be an exercise to determine friends formenemies in the West

Read the full article here.