Something like “Stubb’s statement number one news in Russia” “Researcher astonished” “China comments”
“Immediate grunt from China to Stubb”
I remember his election poster with the word “koulukiusaaja” (school bully) written on his forehead.
Seriously, tho…
I missed this when it came out.
This itself is worth emphasizing, at a time when many Europeans and Americans seem to be asking how Ukraine can win. The answer is simple. Ukraine can win if Europeans and Americans believe it can, and continue to help. Ironically, that emerges quite clearly from these pages. Russia’s propagandists know this. They are relying entirely on their own domain, that of discourse. The war is not going well for Russia on the actual battlefield. The Europeans and the Americans are bearing essentially no costs. But if they can somehow decide that they are weary, Russia can win.
Russia can’t win its own war, is the propagandists’ evident conclusion – but America can win Russia’s war for it. America is of course not all-powerful, as the Russian propagandists claim to believe, but on this point they are right. As we near the U.S. elections, their discussions of Ukraine, like their discussions of Russia and everything else, focus entirely on what is happening inside the United States. The regime they serve, and the senseless and genocidal war it began, can be bought some time, if and only if the United States fails to support Ukraine. And so the heroes of Russia’s war, in Russia’s own propaganda, become the Americans who support it.
And another kind of Russian propaganda:
I’m a journalist, not a foreign policy analyst or political expert, but here’s my quick take on Orbán’s visit to Moscow: from his perspective, it’s a huge success. Orbán garnered all the attention he wanted, scored points with Putin and Trumpworld alike, and reaffirmed his position as the EU’s leading pro-Kremlin and anti-Ukrainian voice. This may also benefit him in the European Parliament, where he’s currently enticing MEPs and parties from other groups to join his Patriots for Europe faction.
Above all, Orbán has once again demonstrated that he can do whatever he wants. He got away with it again, just like when he held up Sweden’s NATO accession. Of course, there are many angry tweets from furious EU leaders and heads of member state governments – but why would he care? It’s all talk, no action, as it always has been, and Orbán knows this very well. The news cycle moves on, and since Hungary is still relatively “okay” compared to other troublemakers around the world, there will be no consequences. When I talk to Hungarian government sources, this is usually their exact argument – besides the usual claim that “in secret, many countries actually support us; they’re just not allowed to say it out loud.”
With all due respect to the decent EU leaders who publicly speak out against Orbán’s visit: they have actually enabled the Hungarian government’s behavior since 2010. As a journalist, one of my favorite topics is investigating how Orbán successfully maneuvers in international politics, making backroom deals even with those who sometimes speak out against him. Whenever Orbán’s vote in the Council or NATO is needed, unimportant issues such as deteriorating rule of law and press freedom in Hungary are always swept aside. There’s an EU infringement procedure here and there, with a final binding decision somewhere in the distant future – does Orbán care? Of course not.
I’ve been covering Russian influence in Hungary for almost a decade, and I can only recall one instance where Viktor Orbán and his government gave up their pro-Russian stance. It was in April 2023, when the United States sanctioned the Russian-led International Investment Bank, dubbed the “Russian spy bank,” which Orbán had invited to be headquartered in Budapest and provided with diplomatic immunity. Almost immediately after the US sanctions, the Hungarian government withdrew from the Russian “spy bank” as one of its shareholders and essentially expelled them from the country.
No surprise there: Orbán doesn’t care about bad reputation, angry tweets, or diplomatic dressing-downs – he only cares about and fears real power. Orbán understands well that Putin is not afraid to use power, while Western players – such as the EU Commission or the US – only do so occasionally, like once in a decade.
I’m pretty sure he thinks that now nobody will bother him until the early 2030s – especially if he can sit out this US administration and Trump returns to power in 2025 as he expects.
