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Putin’s Friends
The new Orbán-Kickl grouping should, more accurately, have called itself “Putin’s Friends”.
By Rainhard Kloucek
On the day before Hungary took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, a joint appearance took place in Vienna involving Hungarian Head of Government Viktor Orbán, FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, and former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. What the parties of Orbán and Kickl stand for is well known. In the case of ANO, the party led by multi-millionaire Babiš, an ideological orientation is difficult to discern. The common denominator is a populist approach (namely the offering of pleasant-sounding sham solutions) and friendliness towards the Russian despot Vladimir Putin.
Together in Vienna, they presented the founding of a new political group which they call “Patriots for Europe”. In doing so, they invoke Europe’s Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian heritage, but essentially emphasise the nation state and nations. They want to protect borders against illegal migration and restore Europe’s competitiveness. They accuse globalist forces (whoever or whatever they mean by that) of wanting to abolish nations and establish a European central state.
They claim to want to protect European identity and traditions, commit themselves to peace and dialogue, and in their manifesto even declare their readiness to defend themselves against any threat.
At this point at the latest, it becomes clear that all the pleasant-sounding words of the manifesto are camouflage. This is because they all behave “neutrally” in the Russian war of annihilation against Ukraine, and refuse to supply the country with military equipment for the defence of the very values they claim to champion.
Continuing his previous policy, Viktor Orbán also proposed a ceasefire to the Ukrainians during a visit to Kyiv. De facto, this would mean a capitulation to Putin’s terror army and would whet the Moscow despot’s appetite for further raids.
If they were honest with themselves and their policies, they would not have called their new group “Patriots for Europe” but “European Friends of Putin”.
