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Russia has reportedly spent over €200 million influencing elections in Moldova. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is said to control assets worth $ Billions
by sleepyguy 1y ago
Russia has reportedly spent over €200 million influencing elections in Moldova. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is said to control assets worth $ Billions $ in the poorest country of the Eurozone. Pictures of his $500 Million dollar estate with Zebras and many African animals litter the Internet. Meanwhile, some British MPs have even admitted to accepting Russian bribes.
Moscow has effectively built a “fifth column” across many European nations. Without decisive government intervention, they risk successfully undermining democracy across the continent. Russia has a long history of such tactics, and it has perfected the art of political manipulation. Just look at the corrosive effect of money in politics in the United States—Donald Trump, for example, would sell out the entire country if it meant more money for himself and his allies.
What’s alarming is how few people in the West understand that they are already engaged in a full-scale information and influence war with Russia and its allies. Most citizens remain unaware of the scale and sophistication of this threat.
- SilverElfin 1y agoIs influencing is just speech, why have a problem with that? What makes it different from groups of activists doing the same thing within a country? It’s all propaganda to some, or free speech to others. I agree it’s an “influence war” but disagree that a foreign source changes things at a basic level - even from within the same country, brigading and bot like voting or comments, corrupts the process of politics. So I disagree about the choice to violate free speech principles. But do you see it differently? Do you agree with the part about activists behaving similarly?
- tomschwiha 1y agoFree speech ends when it conflicts with the law or the rights of others - for example, the right to make a free voting decision. Spreading fake news or knowingly lying is not free speech, but rather an abuse of the term.
- u8080 1y ago>Free speech ends when it conflicts with the law This is exactly what happens under totalitarian governments - status quo people in power erode freedoms by tweaking laws.
- psychoslave 1y agoTurning it the other way around makes more sense: freedom of one starts where it confirms those of others.
- sleepyguy 1y agoDid you not see the weapons caches and the Russian agents arrested in Moldova? During the Romanian election, the opposition leader — a TikTok star — was reportedly found with a massive cache of weapons and ammunition in his personal residence. This kind of activity is happening across Europe. Russia has no limit to the lengths it will go to meddle in other countries’ politics. They create sabotage groups, carry out assassinations, and more. This isn’t about free speech — it’s about taking over governments. Just look at what happened in Georgia with the Dream Party. It's unbelievable how ill informed or outright ignorant folks are about what Russia is trying to do.
- jacquesm 1y agoOr maybe they're part of the problem rather than ill informed or ignorant. I definitely would not rule that out. It's a fine line between malice and high degrees of incompetence or stupidity. Sometimes the latter two are just fig leaves for the former.
- psychoslave 1y agoWhat proportion of the population would you expect to have deep interest in geopolitics? To get a relevant level in it, as for anything, citizen would need dedicated resources. Many Europeans citizen already have many alarm signals regarding their socio-economical faith at their narrow individual level. Even if US and Russia were not actively working both at destroying it with all the means they have without direct military confrontation, its own political oligarchy is already doing a fantastic job at destroying it at the macro level. What do you think European average citizen should do to make its future actually cast a shiny prison prospection?