One of the more baffling aspects of Russia’s attack on Ukraine is the country’s decision to name three of Europe’s tiniest nations as its newest enemies.
What Happened: In an announcement on the Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) channel for RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, the government of President Vladimir Putin declared its new enemies list.
“The government has approved a list of countries unfriendly to Russia,” the RIA Novosti tweet said. “It included, among other things: Australia, UK, EU countries, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Korea, San Marino, Singapore, USA, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan.”
The inclusion of Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino might seem surprising, except that the three little countries chose to follow the lead of the European Union nations in enacting economic sanctions against Russia. Granted, their combined efforts would barely rate a blip in the wider scheme of things, but their symbolic efforts earned Putin’s social media wrath.
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What Happened Next: But without the back story, the appearance of Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino as equals to the U.S., Australia, U.K. and Japan caught many social media denizens by happy surprise.
Grant Stern, lead producer at Miami Podcast Studios, sent a warning to the tiny Italian-speaking republic in the Apennine Mountains by tweeting, “Better watch out San Marino, Putin is coming for you too.”
Fox News Senior Editor Emily Zanotti tweeted, “I am 100% putting out my San Marino flag when I get home and I’m not even worried about confusing my neighbors.”
Mary Linares, a self-identified “ER nurse, history person, humanist, shameless multiethnic rabble rouser,” wondered what impact Putin could have on Liechtenstein’s royal family.
“Lmao, they’re gonna fuck with Liechtenstein?” she tweeted. “They gonna crash the king’s annual beer party?”
Christopher Reeves, a Daily Kos contributor, took a swipe at another micronation that missed Putin’s list, tweeting, “Monaco? San Marino? Liechtenstein? Ok, @ANDORRA_UN you've got to up your game here, Russia keeps forgetting you. We've got you though!”
But while many people were fixated on Russia’s new obsession with Europe’s micronations, Washington Examiner writer Jerry Dunleavy noticed that Russia made a glaring diplomatic faux pas through the inclusion of Taiwan one of the nations on the enemies list.
“The Kremlin placed Taiwan on its list of ‘unfriendly’ countries despite Russia's close ties to China, which does not recognize Taiwanese independence from the mainland,’” Dunleavy tweeted.
Photo: Dimitro Sevastopol / Pixabay
