The images of “elder statesman” usually seem to soften with age. Like rotting apples.
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A walk through Kandahar after the Talibn takeover. Very few woman about, most of them completely covered in cloth.
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I guess the question is if there is going to be a cascade of countries leaving the EU now that the UK has set the precedent. Fucking A. So much for a united Europe…
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Looking at how well Brexit goes I can’t see much enthusiasm for following suit anywhere.
Which doesn’t mean a manipulative, increasingly authoritative and chauvinist government can’t successfully push for it, of course.
Is Orban trying to be clever? Has he started to believe his own bullshit? Does he think he can pull a Tito and play both sides of the road while setting himself up as head of state for life?
I’m inclined to agree more or less with Kreko.
But the next 18 months or so will be critical, not just regarding Hungary.
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The Centre Party found itself embroiled in controversy on Wednesday when the party’s MPs held a summer meeting in Seinäjoki, Ostrobothnia.
The new chair of the group, Oulu MP Juha Pylväs, addressed his people with a speech mostly focused on traditional Centre Party themes — focusing on Finnish issues rather than international ones, and a supposed conflict between action on climate change and people’s economic well-being.
It was the line on immigration that caused a row across social media and the newspapers.
“Yes, we need people who can make ends meet through their own work in Finland,” said Pylväs. “Parasitic living standard surfers who live on social benefits, on the other hand, we don’t need.”
That kind of language is not usually associated with the Centre, an agrarian political force which is often the establishment party in Finland’s smaller, rural towns.
He was immediately criticised on Twitter by one of his own MPs, Hanna Kosonen, and the leader of the Centre youth, Hanna Markkanen. Party leader Annika Saarikko told reporters that Pylväs was responsible for his own words.
Ilta-Sanomat was present and asked Pylväs for clarification, but he did not back down, saying that sometimes you need to dial up the rhetoric.
HS also asked for more details, and Pylväs expanded on the theme. In his opinion, the quota refugee system is good, because Finland ‘knows who is coming’, whereas the asylum system is not, because people claim asylum once they arrive in the country.
This somewhat overshadowed Saarikko’s speech, which talked about climate action and rural issues.
The party still faces a struggle to recover support, as shown by a poll in Helsingin Sanomat. That suggested the Finns Party’s support is down at 17.9 percent, but that’s still nearly five percentage points higher than the Centre Party.
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I agree with FGD135, even glancing at the news about brexit will give anyone who isn’t dead set on leaving something to think about…
Hungary is an interesting case, as they’ve been doing a lot that goes against the rules of membership, and are due a reckoning, you do have to wonder if Orban and co will spin it into more anti-EU sentiment?
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With Hungary it’s a bit of “will they walk or will they be pushed” though. Under Orban their regime is incompatible with EU membership. I think Brexit possibly spooked the member states enough not to be threatening Hungary more.
EU also has a dispute going on with Poland which is serious relating to judicial independence. Extradition was suspended. A ruling there last week seems to have calmed that down a bit.
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I was in Moldova about 16 years ago, and the country was caught in the middle of a spat between Putin and Ukraine and the gas got shut off in between New Year’s and Orthodox Christmas. It was Chisinau’s biggest snowfall in years, and my host family and I were huddled under piles of blankets.
I hope this works out for Ukraine.
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I know which outcome I’m rooting for.
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Two out of three ain’t bad
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I’m not sure if he meant being re-elected.
The original quote says “being arrested, killed or victory,” and he has said he might not even run after some polls showed his high rejection and poor results again Lula.
Considering some of his other remarks, i think “victory” was about a coup.
ETA: it is a bit hard to parse what he really wants to say, even for brazilians, because he is a bit stupid and has been tiptoeing about what he can say after some of his allies were arrested after threatening some judges and the democratic system.
For an example check the quote in the article:
“We have a president who neither desires nor provokes a rupture, but everything has a limit in life. I can’t continue to live with this,” he said.
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I couldn´t agree more.
His acolytes are very excited. They are promising to take the streets, albeit their last demonstrations kind of flopped.
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is that some twisted version of “Fuck, Marry, Kill?”
weird flex, Bolsanaro, but you do you…
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Or maybe “Drink, Fight, Fuck”?
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