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Australia says it could follow Canada in forging deeper ties with EU

254 points · 216 comments · doener

  1. FlowingRiver · · focus · HN ↗
    It is an interesting position we are in here, I suspect we will do the usual thing and walk the middle road. Australia, is part of the Commonwealth, huge trade partner with Asia and allies with the US. Why not throw Canada into the mix some more.

    This setup is why I call this place an equal opportunist whore. If we can do business with you, we will. I also call it the worlds largest Mining town, but that just acknowledging the reality of the place a little.

    As much as many are going against the US, I don't think there is much constitution at the top here to make such a bold move. We will just be pottering around down here hoping all the bad stuff passes us by as nobody notices us.

    1. akudha · · focus · HN ↗
      India does the same. They try to be friendly (or at least on business terms) with as many countries as they can and stay out of global conflicts as much as possible. They were buying oil from Russia well after the Russia-Ukraine war started. It also worked well for India as they were able to get rock bottom prices.

      From a purely economic standpoint, this would make sense. Not sure what to feel about the ethics of it though - at least part of the Russian war bill was footed by the money India paid for Russian oil. One can argue the Ukraine's problems are not India's problems. One could also argue it would be nice to not fund shitty wars, even a little, even indirectly.

      Geopolitics is a complex subject I suppose, for a layman like me.

      1. triceratops · · focus · HN ↗
        > at least part of the Russian war bill was footed by the money India paid for Russian oil

        It's weird India gets held to this standard. Don't European countries still buy some natural gas from Russia?

        1. carefree-bob · · focus · HN ↗
          Russian natgas is laundered through third parties, whereas India is laundering Russian oil. Not saying I support any of these sanctions or tariffs, but India is making bank selling Russian oil to Europe right now, so there is going to be some political blowback. Malaysia also.
          1. triceratops · · focus · HN ↗
            > India is making bank selling Russian oil to Europe

            So...Europe is buying Russian oil and gas? Bit counterproductive, no?

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