[pierrem15]

Gerhard "von Ribbentrop" Schroeder.

The Russians have been pushing Poland for years to acept a new oil and gas pipeline across Bielorussia into Poland instead of expanding the existing pipeline through Ukraine.

The Poles told them to get stuffed and negotiated a deal to buy liquified gas and oil via tanker from Norway.

Look for the EU to push the East Europeans to "accept reality" vis a vis any new contracts with the Bear.

I hope, with our backing, they have the guts to tell them to kiss off.

[endthematrix]

"The point is that there are now respected Western financial institutions -- such as Deutsche Bank -- clearly being influenced by political desires."

Is this any surprise? Public and private capital funds support the ChiComs. Of course it's political, that's how the return is derived via State economic policies. That's business.