The surreal (but truthful) influence of Putin [and Russia] on European and world politics.

drawing created by Tjeerd Royaards – human brain influenced (perhaps even unconsciously) by Putin‘s politics and rule
article by Gabriele Romano

I draw inspiration from this reflective image by Tjeerd Royaards (Dutch designer) to talk about a new topic: Putin’s influence on Europe and also in the conscience of his voters.

There is no doubt that any head of state, especially of a large state like that of Russia, invariably exerts influence on other states and on the rest of the world, even more so if this head of state is a dictator.

The surprising thing, however, is that Putin exercises his influence directly, often with subtle and invisible mechanisms, such as cyber attacks aimed at both advertising campaigns and guided public opinions.

This is the case of Trump’s elections. Perhaps not everyone knows but the 2016 challenge between Trump and Hilary Clinton was completely contaminated by journalistic and social influences driven by the Kremlin.
This fact emerged with the outbreak of the scandal which was properly called Russiagate.
As Trump emerged in spring 2016 as the unlikely favorite for the Republican nomination, according to the New York Times, Russian interference developed along three lines: interception and disclosure of rival party documents; massive fraudulent activity via Facebook and Twitter profiles; contact with associates of Trump’s presidential campaign.

As can be expected, Russia could also influence the next elections, especially the next elections which will be held in Europe between 6 and 9 June.
The European elections will be held in all 27 countries and the representatives of each state who will take part in the European parliament will be decided. These are the first European elections after the exit of the United Kingdom and also the elections with a greater number of MEPs (from 705 to 720) after the reform of September 2023 in order to represent the demographic changes in the member countries.
The European elections are an amorphous event that sometimes does not reflect the political color of the state in which the vote is being held nor the representativeness of the candidates.
The European elections are an amorphous event that sometimes does not reflect the political color of the state in which the vote is being held nor the representativeness of the candidates. Often finding themselves far from the national election date, voters are sometimes led to choose a party other than the one they voted for their own.The trend I can detect is that in recent years Europe has contributed to national discontent, such as for migrants. The war ended by worsening this trend and so citizens often vote for the parties that are most distant from community policies, which in the end would be the right-wing ones.

In addition to the shocking ability to circumvent the filtering systems of the phone calls received at Palazzo Chigi, the two Russian comedians stood out for having undermined transparency on the true thoughts of the war, forcing Giorgia Meloni to make the sad confession of saying that “we are all “tired of the war”, suggesting a certain remorse in aligning with the policies of NATO and the USA. A joke that embarrassed the entire government and that many think that secret services were also behind the clever joke of the Kremlin.

But returning to the real revelations of recent months..
Following a report from the Czech Republic, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to shed light on the activities of Voice of Europe, an online newspaper close to the European right. The newspaper’s website was closed by the Czech authorities after intelligence had reported the existence of funds that would have been given by Moscow through Voice of Europe to politicians from six European countries, including the AfD, the German party that all «Eurocamera sits in the parliamentary group of the League.Among the politicians there would also be some MEPs, hence the opening of a file also in Belgium, seat of the EU institutions. While waiting for the investigations to clarify the possible responsibilities of the media and politicians, De Croo deemed it necessary to activate a protection mechanism for the next European elections, which in Belgium will also coincide with the national and local elections. “A special working group will be established in the two months leading up to the elections,” the prime minister announced. “It will be a matter of observing these Russian maneuvers, analyzing them and transmitting the information to the national authorities and intelligence services,” he added.This “task force” will combine the resources of the European Foreign Action Service, the European Parliament and the Belgian presidency of the EU Council. The Belgian presidency will activate the Ipcr (Integrated Political Crisis Response), a European mechanism that serves to coordinate the reaction of the 27 member states in the event of a large-scale crisis. The IPCR was activated during Covid, the energy crisis and the invasion of Ukraine.

article
by Gabriele Romano