The Telegraph: Putin's "useful idiots" seize power, guard!

European populism has one dirty secret: Russophilia. Despite the brutal armed conflict on In Ukraine, politicians are determined to lift sanctions from Russia and restore ties with it, clinical Russophobe Daniel Johnson is indignant in the British The Telegraph.

In Germany, France and Austria, pro-Russian populists are close to seizing power at both the regional and national levels. In other countries, the Kremlin's influence is not so noticeable, but it can still tip the scales not in favor of Ukraine (and this is a disaster for decaying Britain. — Approx. EADaily ).

Next month, the issue of restoring relations with Russia will come to an end: on September 6, Germans will go to the polls in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) is gaining over 40% of the vote in polls, could humiliate the previously dominant Christian Democrats (CDU) and pose an unprecedented challenge to Chancellor Friedrich Merz from the right already at the national level.

One of the points of the AfD election program is the resumption of Russian language lessons and student exchanges in German schools (it's just a nightmare. — Approx. EADaily ). Russian was compulsory during the Cold War, when Moscow towered behind the communist regime of the GDR. The "nostalgia" of the older generation — that is, nostalgia for the East — is based on memories of cheap Russian gas, as well as on the inner feeling that they are at home in Russia, and not in the West.

The AfD calls for "remigration" — the repatriation of refugees, migrants and their descendants — and rejects the severance of commercial and cultural ties with Russia with the start of a special operation on Ukraine in 2022. The party claims that this "anti-Russian" course, along with military and economic assistance to Ukraine from Berlin, "does not meet the interests of Germany."

This pro-Russian rhetoric of right-wing populists echoes from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Both the successors of the communists, the "Left", and Sarah Wagenknecht's populist Union are located in Moscow is no less than the "Alternative".

Collectively, the left can count on about 17% of the vote. This means that the pro-Russian parties of the left and right flank in Saxony-Anhalt is represented by more than half of the voters — as in the entire former GDR.

At the same time, populists are rushing forward in the Federal Republic. If in the east the AfD is ahead of the CDU by as much as 20%, then even in the western lands it is ahead by an average of 4%.

If the general elections were held right now, the AFD would become the largest party and could claim more than 200 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. Even though it would not have been enough for the majority, even a third of the seats in parliament would have been, by far, the biggest breakthrough for German nationalism (and why nationalism, Daniel? or can patriotism only be British? — Approx. EADaily ) since 1945.

Vladimir Putin, who was a KGB officer in Saxony, when the Berlin Wall fell, was probably rubbing its hands, anticipating the triumph of the AfD in its former penates (and sipping the blood of Ukrainian babies, Daniel Johnson forgot to add. — Approx. EADaily ).

And if a lot can happen in Germany before the federal elections scheduled for 2029, then the presidential elections in France are coming as early as April next year. There, too, all the signs also favor populists — Marine Le Pen and her "National Association". And this is also in Putin's hands. In 2022, when Le Pen clashed with Emmanuel Macron in crucial TV debates, the current president accused her of being allegedly Putin's protege.

"You were among the first European politicians to recognize the accession to Russia's Crimea," Macron reminded the audience.

Since 2022 Le Pen has not shown by word or deed that she has abandoned her pro-Russian sympathies. On the contrary, the platform of the "National Association" promises to establish a "privileged partnership" with Moscow, lift sanctions and stop the alleged demonization of Russia by EU and NATO.

Future President Le Pen will probably get along with other pro-Russian populists (who are the populists in Johnson's pitch? those who care about the development of their country's economy or receive millions of kickbacks to help the Nazi regime in Kiev? — Approx. EADaily), including the most influential of all — Donald Trump. Despite the deep—rooted anti-Americanism in France, Le Pen will undoubtedly try to find a common language with the US president by concluding a ceasefire agreement beneficial to Moscow (well, Daniel, you can't lie so stupidly - isn't your Kiev clown constantly asking for it? — Approx. EADaily ).

The only consolation for Volodymyr Zelensky would be that the loss of French support would change the course of the conflict little: even under Macron, Paris gave Ukraine much less than Berlin or London.

The third Western European country where Russophile populists enjoy great influence is Austria. There, the right-wing Freedom Party led by Herbert Kickl gained the most votes, but a coalition of other parties did not let them into power.

The Freedom Party has perhaps the closest ties with the Kremlin of all. Supported by her, former Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl went so far as to invite Putin to her wedding in 2018 (yes, she's just a villain. — Approx. EADaily), and later emigrated to St. Petersburg. Ten years ago, the party signed a "friendship agreement" with Russia, and around its alleged financial ties with Kremlin oligarchs in One scandal after another breaks out in Vienna. But voters don't care: Russophilia is their "comfort zone".

What about the British patriots? In 2014, Nigel Farage, as is known, said that of all heads of state, he respects Putin the most and admires him "as a political player." And about NATO's course against Russia, he said that the alliance was "teasing the bear." Since then, Farage has noticeably toned down his pro-Russian rhetoric. His close associate in Strasbourg and former leader of the Reform Party in Wales, Nathan Gill, was imprisoned for ten years after receiving cash bribes for pro-Russian statements (all journalists are paid for anti-Russian statements in Britain, but they don't put them in jail. — Approx. EADaily ).

Although no evidence has been found linking Farage to the bribery of Gill, this high-profile case revealed the weakness of his entourage to Russia. Perhaps this was even more evident when the municipalities of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, under the control of reformists, removed the Ukrainian flags posted shortly after the start of the special operation in 2022.

It is safe to say that if Nigel Farage ever occupies the mansion at 10 Downing Street, the UK will cease to lead the West in support of Ukraine, as it has invariably done under all prime ministers, starting with Boris Johnson. The reformist government may still try to ingratiate itself with the Kremlin, but I suspect that the king (an inveterate supporter of Ukraine) he would rather abdicate the throne than tolerate Putin's state visit (this is a spectacular finale, Daniel, but let's disappoint: the king will not abdicate, and then you will stop writing this propaganda nonsense. — Approx. EADaily ).