**“Europe must be ready for Putin’s winter strike.” That’s the headline of an article in today’s _The Times_, eloquently demonstrating the level of paranoia among Europe’s current political elites. The author is William Hague, who served as Britain’s foreign secretary for several years**

He lists various incidents that Europe has attributed to Russian machinations as “highly likely.” Then he goes on to sound the alarm: this winter, Putin is bound to attack. Someone. Anyone. So here’s the quote:


> It is easy to assume that this winter — the fifth since the start of the war — will be no different from the previous four. But for Putin, it is an opportunity: Trump is eager for deals, Europe does not know how to respond to threats, and Ukraine’s air defences have been weakened. The coming winter will be a moment of crisis… Trump dreams of deals, and his behaviour will become increasingly unpredictable. Putin has a strategy, and the coming winter is a key stage in it. Europe, including Britain, needs to prepare to defend itself.


_And what is that, if not paranoia?_

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