From governments to opposition parties: these are Vladimir Putin’s allies in Europe

Analysts say the Kremlin has interests on the continent, amid its invasion of Ukraine and ahead of European Parliament elections.

These days, between June 6 and 9, the elections to the European Parliament are taking place. .

In this case, citizens of the 27 countries that make up the European Union (EU) will have the task of choosing to its 720 representatives.

But this electoral event not only attracts attention on this continent but also in the international community.

And in fact, Since Russia They are focused on results. elections.

This because they could influence the organization’s position regarding the invasion of Russian forces into the territory of Ukraine .

According to different organizations and specialists, with this objective the president Vladimir Poutine sought to strengthen its relations with its European allies, in addition to influencing opposition movements in its favor .

It is even accused that from Russia Disinformation campaigns targeting Europe have been launched with the aim of influencing the legislative elections.

The deputy director of the Center for European Reform, Ian Bond, recently told BBC What “There are two ways to make your country more powerful” .

“One is to invest internally to make it more powerful and the other is invest to weaken your enemies . And very often, the second is cheaper and more effective than the first,” he stressed.

According to the expert’s analysis of Kremlin policy, Creating divisions is already “a victory” for Putin “almost independently of what happens in the next European elections”.

According to the expert, Motivations can range from economic to political. because some factions see him as a defender of certain traditional ideas.

The director of the Center for Democratic Integrity, Anton Shekhovtsov, assured the aforementioned media that since 2023, “Russia has been frantically trying to spread its speech everywhere, so uses any opportunity and any place to spread its propaganda and disinformation “.

“Its most important objective is win the war and can only achieve this by undermining Western support for Ukraine . Without this support, Ukraine is doomed to failure,” he added.

At the same time, the author of the book Russia and the Western far right: Tango Noir (Routledge, 2017) stated that the president wants “Europe to have as many problems as possible” .

“This would distract European countries from the war in Ukraine. It doesn’t matter how he achieves this, whether by supporting the far right or separatists or by corrupting mainstream politicians. “.

From governments to opposition parties: these are Vladimir Putin’s allies in Europe. Photo: Viktor Orbán / Vladimir Putin.

Which governments and movements are allied with Vladimir Putin?

One of the main defenders of the Kremlin is The Hungarian ultranationalist Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. .

Your support even led to promote “illiberal democracy” and the figure of the “strong man” that Putin represents from his vision.

That helped receive loans from Russian banks so that they can develop state projects.

For his part, Orbán remained the same opposing EU sending aid to Ukraine .

In the same spirit, it is Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, victim of an attack in mid-May assembled in the town of Handlova.

This last He said the Kremlin leader had been “wrongly demonized” and expressed opposition to military aid. in the country of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On the other hand, in the opposition movements on European territory, there are parties like Alternative for Germany (AfD, for its acronym in German).

According to the newspaper The Spiegel two of its key members have been linked to a network that allegedly used Voice of Europe digital media to spread Kremlin propaganda in several languages ​​and that he paid politicians to transmit these ideas.

AfD also criticized EU contributions to Ukraine and they declared that the Russian invasion was because they saw their security threatened by Western measures.

In France, he is linked to Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN). with the support of the Kremlin.

Although in 2014 they received a loan from a Russian bank to finance their campaigns for regional elections the following year and it supported Putin’s candidacy in the 2017 presidential elections, Chekhovtsov claims that His speech has become more moderate since the start of the invasion Russian.

“I think Le Pen realized that Russia was using him. The Russians are very cynical about their so-called allies in Europe. They can support them today and get rid of them when they no longer need them (…) He knew when to distance himself from the Russians, and it was a very smart tactical decision. for his part,” the specialist told the BBC.

The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) also expressed its support to the Russian president.

AND, in Italy, the League party of Matteo Salvini was targeted for his relations with the Kremlin.

However, Chekhovtsov emphasized that They also moderated their speech, to the point that Salvini deleted photos from his social networks in which he wore a t-shirt with Putin’s face. .

Source: Latercera

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