Rodric Braithwaite London The claim that the west gave no guarantees against Nato expanding eastwards may be literally true but is nevertheless misleading.
As much as we moan about the oligarchs pouring their money into the game, deep down we secretly hope one day they will tire of the Bridge, and look eastwards.
Eastwards around the M25 at Stansted are Ryanair, Go, the low-cost offshoot of British Airways BAA) sold to a management buy-out earlier this year, and Buzz, the British arm of KLM, which uses the airline partly to feed its international hub at Amsterdam.
Ideally, commercial cultivation of thirsty sugar-cane and paddy should also be shifted eastwards, to the poor and sodden parts of Bihar and West Bengal.
Since October, some 6.5m hectares (16m acres) of land have been sprayed or otherwise treated to kill the insects, but the swarms keep moving south and eastwards.
They started with a few flights between Britain and Ireland, and from Britain to continental Europe, and have opened up new routes eastwards where they can.
It used acquisitions to expand geographically first southwards to pluck SEAT in Spain, then eastwards to take over Skoda in the Czech Republic.
Driving for 140km (87 miles) along the main arterial road eastwards from Harare, you pass mile after mile of derelict and seemingly empty farmland that was once among the most productive in Africa.
Since today's EU devotes 80% of its budget to aiding farmers or poor regions, simply extending its current policies eastwards would cost existing members huge sums.This week the European Commission unveiled its first detailed plan to solve this difficulty.
Third, the EU's centre of political gravity has moved eastwards and away from the Mediterranean south.
So he appears to have turned eastwards, for a Russian holiday of snow and sun.
