Thread by @pleasesaveour

Just last week, many European countries were still so somnolent about the threat Russia posed to Ukraine that Germany’s spy chief was caught unawares in Kyiv when the Kremlin invasion started. He had to be extracted in a special operation.
washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/…

But over just a handful of days, Europe has been shocked out of a post-Cold War era — and state of mind — in which it left many of the democratic world’s most burning security problems to the US

It has been dizzying for some of the continent’s Russia hawks, especially those in

Eastern Europe who campaigned for tougher measures against the Kremlin for years but were ignored by bigger countries including Germany, Italy and France.

The countries taking action against Ru stretch around the world. Japan said on Mon that it will impose sanctions on Russia’s central bank and on senior officials in Belarus.
reuters.com/world/europe/j…

Australia said it would sanction Putin and other sr Ru leaders and would supply weaponry to Ukr
reuters.com/world/asia-pac…

Ger Chanc Scholz said he would increas his country’s def spending and start shipping arms to Ukr. Ger Green party — which grew out of an anti-nuclear power movement — declared an openness to keeping his country’s nuclear plants operating if it helped reduce reliance on Ru energy

oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-…

All in less than a week

Eight member nations of the European Union said they wanted to start membership negotiations with Ukraine. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she’d be open to it,

“The situation on the ground has led countries to understand neither Biden nor the East Europeans were crazy,” -Estonian President

Finland and Sweden, who have long held themselves apart from NATO, are seriously considering joining the defense alliance. A poll published Mon by

Finland’s public broadcaster showed 53 percent of Finns favored membership. Even Switzerland, the mountainous redoubt of neutrality and hidden bank accounts, declared Monday it would freeze top Russians’ assets.

news.yahoo.com/switzerland-ba…

Britain on Monday unveiled a new package of sanctions against Russia that included a move to ban Russian vessels from accessing U.K. ports, even as some were en route, and asset freezes against new banks.
msn.com/en-us/news/wor…