The following is a machine translation of today’s interview, published in Russian, of an interview that Helga Zepp-LaRouche gave to the New York Bureau of TASS.
Inauguration of the President of the Russian Federation
Expert: Putin’s Inaugural Speech Refers to the Key Principle of the Peace of Westphalia
The founder of the international Schiller Institute, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, emphasized the importance of the fact that the Russian President announced his readiness for dialogue with the West
WASHINGTON, May 8. /Corr. TASS Sergey Yumatov/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inaugural speech refers to the key principle of the 1648 Westphalian Peace Treaty, the principle of respect for each other’s interests. This assessment was made by the founder of the international Schiller Institute, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, in an interview with a TASS correspondent.
“From an existential point of view, it is important that President Putin, in his inaugural speech, emphasized his readiness for dialogue with the West on equal terms and with respect for each other’s interests,” the expert believes. At the same time, according to Zepp-LaRouche, the Russian leadership “makes clear through exercises involving the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons that Russia will not tolerate further crossing of red lines.”
According to the founder of the Schiller Institute, the Russian leader’s speech “reminds us of the spirit of the Peace of Westphalia, which was concluded when the participants in the Thirty Years’ War realized that if the conflict continued, there would be no survivors who could enjoy victory.” “The key principle of the Peace of Westphalia was the recognition that in order to establish peace it is necessary to respect each other’s interests,” Zepp-LaRouche emphasized.
The Westphalian system of international relations was created in Europe on the basis of the Peace of Westphalia, concluded following the results of the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy Roman Empire, which ended in 1648. The principles of this system, such as the priority of national interests, the principle of the balance of power, of state sovereignty, the right to demand non-interference in the internal affairs of a state, the principle of international law and the use of diplomacy in international relations, as well as some of its other elements, remain relevant in relations between states.
