What often unites European populists is their proximity to the Kremlin master. Mario Draghi paid the price. And he is not the only one, writes the French magazine Le Point in its editorial.
The summer has started well for Vladimir Putin. His opponents in Europe fall one after another. On July 20, Boris Johnson delivered his farewell speech in the House of Commons. The next day in Rome, Mario Draghi resigned after seventeen months as prime minister. There is no connection between these resignations, except that in both cases the Kremlin despot benefits from the unexpected gift. Whatever we think of Johnson and Draghi’s policies, they were among the leaders in Europe most determined to help Ukraine repel the invasion. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ecstatically posted an image on Telegram showing Johnson, Draghi and a black figure with a question mark. Who will be Putin’s next opponent to fall in the fray?
If Johnson owes his fall only to himself, then Draghi was ambushed. The three politicians who joined forces to bring about his departure – Giuseppe Conte, leader of the populist 5 Star movement, Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing populist League and Silvio Berlusconi, head of Forza Italia – have long-standing acquaintances with Putin. Draghi, on the other hand, has played a key role in recent months in building Western unity and in developing an unprecedented range of sanctions against Russia. We can bet that his successor in Rome’s Palazzo Chigi will be more accommodating to Moscow.
French voters also contributed to Putin’s well-being. By weakening Emmanuel Macron, the legislative elections silenced one of the European Union’s dominant voices. And they sent to the National Assembly the most Eurosceptic chamber since the one that torpedoed the European Defense Community project in 1954. The 88 deputies of the National Assembly and the 75 elected representatives of “Independent France” represent two parties that have among their common points, that for a long time they were guiltily complacent regarding the Kremlin host.
Undermining European unity
In Hungary, on the other hand, voters again in April gave an overwhelming majority to Viktor Orbán, Moscow’s main ally in the EU. With his modest scale, the Hungarian Prime Minister has since worked to undermine European unity. On July 21, for example, he sent his foreign minister to Moscow to order an additional 700 million cubic meters. gas for his country, as opposed to the rest of Europe.
Hungary will soon not be alone in its Putin tropism. In Germany, the ruling coalition is showing signs of division over the extent of the economic damage a sharp weaning on Russian gas will do to the country. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, in particular, is tempted by the rush to peace. Despite its protests of solidarity with Kyiv, Europe’s richest country continues to skimp on sending heavy weapons to the Ukrainian army.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, the stability and unity of the Old Continent was somewhat hastily praised. At the summits that brought together in late spring the G7 in Bavaria and then NATO in Madrid, there was self-congratulation under the pleased gaze of US President Joe Biden. Today, rising prices, threats of energy shortages and a looming recession are testing the cohesion of the EU and NATO. Populist and extremist parties may capitalize on the discontent that will sweep across Europe as winter approaches. Putin may not be done rubbing his hands. In Kyiv on June 16, Emmanuel Macron assured President Volodymyr Zelensky: “Europe is on your side. And it will be like this until victory.4
The second part of the statement remains to be proven.
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