by Paolo Lepri
Spanish writer: «Who says no to arms for Kyiv? I think Moscow will thank them with caviar and vodka. A Stalinist tsar has declared war on freedoms. If I were Ukrainian, I would like France, Italy, Spain and not Russia to be my role model.
Putin? “A legacy of the Stalinist state that sees democracy as a Western degeneration.” For Manuel Vilas (who, in his most famous book In All That Was Beauty, moved in search of himself, based on the conviction that “we never telling the whole truth, because if we did, we would tear the universe apart”) Thinking about the war in Ukraine might mean trying an exercise in clarity. Similar to writing, even considering that the Kremlin’s leader “is just a fictional character, but from a terror novel.” He talks about it, the former KGB agent, without hiding behind the words. “He doesn’t care about people. He sees the world without people. Do you think that Russia must be an empire, it was also an empire of corpses. He is a perverted idealist with no empathy. With him we are back in the Middle Ages ».
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The “pain, sadness, and fear” that world happenings evoke in him do not pollute his clarity, do not weaken the sharp spirit, do not limit the joy of swimming against the tide. The ex-boyfriend from Barbastro, Aragon, who, after the death of his parents, when he returned to the mountain valley of Ordesa, “was aware for the first time that time was beginning”, replies to me from the Cabo de Gata promontory: in Andalusia, where he is writing his new book. I ask him if we, who are far from Mariupol, should also be afraid. “Yep. We are all under threat. Especially those who need freedom of speech to live and do their jobs”. Another personal note, which also reminds of the importance of novels like Joy, Suddenly and Kisses, is the certainty that that war “spoils the beauty of the world”.
How do you explain that a fascist autocrat like Putin also has left-wing sympathizers?
“The left has a pending problem. He cannot say that “practiced communism was and is a political and economic error that brings misery and death to the workers”. If he can say this phrase, he will be modern again and will have a very important place in Western politics ».
What is your take on the debate over NATO-US “mistakes” that would partially explain Moscow’s reaction?
“Russia will be a member of NATO in 100 years, hopefully in 50 years. The Russian reaction has nothing to do with NATO. Putin can’t stand Western culture. It uses NATO as a motive, but Putin has declared war on freedom of speech, same-sex marriage, literature, cinema, middle-class economic prosperity, gay kissing in the street, and even the internet. Putin is bothered by the fact that a citizen has political rights. She does not understand the independence of the judiciary and equality before the judiciary”.
And the “pacifists” who say no to arms deliveries to the Ukrainians, who deny those attacked the right to defense?
“I think that for Christmas Putin will send them a case of vodka and a case of caviar for services to Mother Russia. And to the countries that continue to buy gas, he will send a thousand cases of vodka and two thousand cases of Russian caviar to finance the war ».
Can the invasion of Ukraine weaken European populists?
“European populists have been fueled by the economic crisis that originated in 2008 and the lack of initiatives from the centre-left and centre-right to promote economic recovery. In Spain, unemployment and inflation are the main allies of the extreme right. If you want a country without the extreme right and the extreme left, you need to create economic prosperity, you need to create quality jobs and public services, you need to modernize the economy, and that there is research, technology, and competitive businesses. This is how we fight against populism. The far left and the far right are being fought by defending the wealth of the middle classes. We pay a secondary school teacher, a taxi driver, a doctor, a plumber, a waitress the same amount as an MEP and populism will disappear in five minutes ».
Speaking of friends of Russia, Marine Le Pen would be in favor of a post-war alliance with Moscow. Do you see this as a threat to Europe?
«Putin wants to be a Stalinist tsar and Marine le Pen wants to be a fascist Napoleon. It’s all very sad. You are very scary. We thought that Nazism would not return, but instead it returns in disguise, in disguise ».
Is it correct to speak again of the need for intellectual “engagement”? What can you do to fight evil?
“Unmask the impostors and always be on the side of freedom. Without freedom, life is a failure ».
What do you think of Zelenskyy?
“He speaks perfect English and can act like an actor. She has conquered the scene because she is addressing the world».
Is he the hero of the moment?
“He fights for his people, he has my full support. Zelenskyy wants Ukraine to become Europe. It’s normal: if I were Ukrainian, I would like to have France, Italy, Germany, Spain and not Russia as my life model. I don’t want to live like you in Russia. I want to live like you in Europe. This is the real reason for the war. Putin doesn’t want Ukrainians to free themselves from Russia’s misery and clutches. NATO is an excuse. If I were Ukrainian, I would like to live like a Parisian or a Roman or a Madrilenian and not like a Muscovite. If Putin couldn’t assassinate Zelenskyy, it’s because he couldn’t. Zelensky was threatened with death. We will all be threatened with death soon. I warn you: we are at war ».
April 23, 2022 (Change April 23, 2022 | 13:59)
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