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> Worryingly, European populists are espousing more assertively anti-Ukrainian views. Viktor Orban focused his unsuccessful election campaign to remain Hungaria

> Worryingly, European populists are espousing more assertively anti-Ukrainian views. Viktor Orban focused his unsuccessful election campaign to remain Hungarian prime minister on that theme. Meanwhile ECFR’s polling shows that voters of the far-right Freedom Party in Austria (FPÖ), the AfD in Germany, two far-right parties in Poland, and the governing and populist Progressive Bulgaria all see Ukraine as chiefly a “rival” or “adversary”. Yes, because Russia's propaganda, espionage and corruption arm has been focusing on the far-right parties for the past two decades, breaking from their previous focus on the far left.

flohofwoe 4mo ago
Russia doesn't really differentiate between right and left when it comes to trying to destabilize Europe, they throw random shit against the wall and then focus on what sticks.
- scihuber 4mo ago
  You’re absolutely right, but I’d also add that Russia’s cultural right and left are essentially just the right wing by U.S. or European standards.
  - snowpid 4mo ago
    I didnt know that communist are consired right wing now.
    - ndsipa_pomu 4mo ago
      You may be confusing the Soviet Union (disbanded in 1991) with Russia. The Soviet Union (USSR) was communist, but Russia existed before and after the Soviet Union. Russia was a monarchy before 1917 and became a semi-presidential republic (under Putin) after the fall of the Soviet Union. I would also describe modern Russia as an oligarchy and certainly seems to be far-right in terms of politics.
- spwa4 4mo ago
  They used to though. Russian money was destined exclusively for the far-left before 2015 or so.
  - TalkingCodeMonk 4mo ago
    There is credible evidence that Trump — that bastion of the far-left — has been a Russian asset since the 1980's...
    - spwa4 4mo ago
      Yes. Trump is a New Yorker. What do you think his party was when growing up? By the way, he has swapped political parties like he probably showers: every few years. Trump has been a democrat, registered, donor, everything you want, multiple times.
      - TalkingCodeMonk 4mo ago
        > What do you think his party was when growing up? This is indicative of Americas mental illness epidemic. You believe the neoliberal pro-corporate oligarchy party, that hasn't had a leftist president since Carter, is "the left"... without even a hint of irony. We have always been at war with Eurasia.
  - pjc50 4mo ago
    [citation needed] - I thought there was significant proven bribery across the German political spectrum?
    - spwa4 4mo ago
      Only in one sense. You get Russian money if you're extreme. Left, right, muslim extremist, anarchist, ... doesn't matter. As long as you're willing to sabotage Germany. But the CDU (and even Die Linke for that matter, everyone vaguely "normal") has to get it's Russian bribes the old fashioned way: with large industrial projects. No freebies.
  - 4mo ago
robotomir 4mo ago
This is an oversimplification, I would not consider Orban far right and PB are more populist left if anything. And it's not all Russia's fault, in Bulgaria the pro-Russian government came into power after five years of self-proclaimed pro-Western politicians attacking the institutions for their own political gain. Well, it misfired.
- pavlov 4mo ago
  So Orbán is not far-right, but somehow American far-right politicians and influencers like J.D. Vance and Tucker Carlson loved him as a shining example of the kind of nationalist illiberal state they want to create. Hmm.
- wolvoleo 4mo ago
  Well it's because of the overton window. In Holland when the fascist PVV joined the coalition it was a huge embarrassment for the other parties so they rebranded "extreme right" to "radical right" in all media so they didn't seem like sellouts. This happened literally the day they took office. Clearly a coordinated effort. I'm sure the same applies to orban. People in power don't like to be called extreme so they rebrand to launder their ideology. It's still the same crap but now more hidden.
rainingmonkey 4mo ago
Do you have any evidence that Russian espionage backed the far left before 2006?
- spwa4 4mo ago
  Are you really disputing that the Soviet Union used to back the far left in the west monetarily? Seriously? And no, they didn't really change who/how they backed for 20+ years.
  - omnimus 4mo ago
    The comment is just asking for evidence. I am curious too.
    - palmotea 4mo ago
      > The comment is just asking for evidence. I am curious too. Given "before 2006" includes the entire history of Soviet espionage, that's kinda like demanding evidence that the sun rises in the East. It's very obvious that Soviet espionage would have supported far-left groups in the West, so if you want evidence you should probably do your own research. Now the post-Soviet period in that range, 1991-2005, is a different question.
      - piva00 4mo ago
        Russia != Soviet Union, even though Russia was the Soviet political-administrative center, contemporary Russia Federation is very different to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
        palmotea 4mo ago
        Russia was also communist in Soviet times, and it's not like the slate was completely wiped clean when the Soviet Union fell. IIRC the Russian Federation also is officially the successor state to the Soviet Union, and took on its treaty obligations, etc.
rapsey 4mo ago
Yes all russia's fault. It has nothing to do with european governments and the EU caring more about climate change than the economy. More about third worlders than local population. More about policing racism than violent crime. More about extending the war instead of ending it.
- snowpid 4mo ago
  "More about extending the war instead of ending it." Clearly this is Russia's fault. Russian troops could just leave Ukraine's international recognised area. Easy peasy.
elzbardico 4mo ago
Stop with your DW diet please. It is fucking your brain. The difference between modern german press and the soviet pravda, is that soviet citizens were aware the Pravda was propaganda.
Markoff 4mo ago
any country should see any other country as rival, no matter whether it is Ukraine, US, China, Germany or Uganda, it is just common sense, you dont need any propaganda for that, especially considering cheap unregulated UA products flooding European markets destroying farmers livelihood while EU farmers have to obey much stricter standard and are then unable to compete on price without subsidies (just to be clear I would prefer to abolish all subsidies)

flohofwoe 4mo ago

Russia doesn't really differentiate between right and left when it comes to trying to destabilize Europe, they throw random shit against the wall and then focus on what sticks.

scihuber 4mo ago
You’re absolutely right, but I’d also add that Russia’s cultural right and left are essentially just the right wing by U.S. or European standards.
- snowpid 4mo ago
  I didnt know that communist are consired right wing now.
  - ndsipa_pomu 4mo ago
    You may be confusing the Soviet Union (disbanded in 1991) with Russia. The Soviet Union (USSR) was communist, but Russia existed before and after the Soviet Union. Russia was a monarchy before 1917 and became a semi-presidential republic (under Putin) after the fall of the Soviet Union. I would also describe modern Russia as an oligarchy and certainly seems to be far-right in terms of politics.
spwa4 4mo ago
They used to though. Russian money was destined exclusively for the far-left before 2015 or so.
- TalkingCodeMonk 4mo ago
  There is credible evidence that Trump — that bastion of the far-left — has been a Russian asset since the 1980's...
  - spwa4 4mo ago
    Yes. Trump is a New Yorker. What do you think his party was when growing up? By the way, he has swapped political parties like he probably showers: every few years. Trump has been a democrat, registered, donor, everything you want, multiple times.
    - TalkingCodeMonk 4mo ago
      > What do you think his party was when growing up? This is indicative of Americas mental illness epidemic. You believe the neoliberal pro-corporate oligarchy party, that hasn't had a leftist president since Carter, is "the left"... without even a hint of irony. We have always been at war with Eurasia.
- pjc50 4mo ago
  [citation needed] - I thought there was significant proven bribery across the German political spectrum?
  - spwa4 4mo ago
    Only in one sense. You get Russian money if you're extreme. Left, right, muslim extremist, anarchist, ... doesn't matter. As long as you're willing to sabotage Germany. But the CDU (and even Die Linke for that matter, everyone vaguely "normal") has to get it's Russian bribes the old fashioned way: with large industrial projects. No freebies.
- 4mo ago

robotomir 4mo ago

This is an oversimplification, I would not consider Orban far right and PB are more populist left if anything. And it's not all Russia's fault, in Bulgaria the pro-Russian government came into power after five years of self-proclaimed pro-Western politicians attacking the institutions for their own political gain. Well, it misfired.

pavlov 4mo ago
So Orbán is not far-right, but somehow American far-right politicians and influencers like J.D. Vance and Tucker Carlson loved him as a shining example of the kind of nationalist illiberal state they want to create. Hmm.
wolvoleo 4mo ago
Well it's because of the overton window. In Holland when the fascist PVV joined the coalition it was a huge embarrassment for the other parties so they rebranded "extreme right" to "radical right" in all media so they didn't seem like sellouts. This happened literally the day they took office. Clearly a coordinated effort. I'm sure the same applies to orban. People in power don't like to be called extreme so they rebrand to launder their ideology. It's still the same crap but now more hidden.

rainingmonkey 4mo ago

Do you have any evidence that Russian espionage backed the far left before 2006?

spwa4 4mo ago
Are you really disputing that the Soviet Union used to back the far left in the west monetarily? Seriously? And no, they didn't really change who/how they backed for 20+ years.
- omnimus 4mo ago
  The comment is just asking for evidence. I am curious too.
  - palmotea 4mo ago
    > The comment is just asking for evidence. I am curious too. Given "before 2006" includes the entire history of Soviet espionage, that's kinda like demanding evidence that the sun rises in the East. It's very obvious that Soviet espionage would have supported far-left groups in the West, so if you want evidence you should probably do your own research. Now the post-Soviet period in that range, 1991-2005, is a different question.
    - piva00 4mo ago
      Russia != Soviet Union, even though Russia was the Soviet political-administrative center, contemporary Russia Federation is very different to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
      - palmotea 4mo ago
        Russia was also communist in Soviet times, and it's not like the slate was completely wiped clean when the Soviet Union fell. IIRC the Russian Federation also is officially the successor state to the Soviet Union, and took on its treaty obligations, etc.

rapsey 4mo ago

Yes all russia's fault. It has nothing to do with european governments and the EU caring more about climate change than the economy. More about third worlders than local population. More about policing racism than violent crime. More about extending the war instead of ending it.

snowpid 4mo ago
"More about extending the war instead of ending it." Clearly this is Russia's fault. Russian troops could just leave Ukraine's international recognised area. Easy peasy.

elzbardico 4mo ago

Stop with your DW diet please. It is fucking your brain. The difference between modern german press and the soviet pravda, is that soviet citizens were aware the Pravda was propaganda.

Markoff 4mo ago

any country should see any other country as rival, no matter whether it is Ukraine, US, China, Germany or Uganda, it is just common sense, you dont need any propaganda for that, especially considering cheap unregulated UA products flooding European markets destroying farmers livelihood while EU farmers have to obey much stricter standard and are then unable to compete on price without subsidies (just to be clear I would prefer to abolish all subsidies)