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A glimmer of hope for Europe
gabbar says
A glimmer of hope for Europe
Eh... not much hope for Europe. I wouldn't invest or place any bets on it winning anything for sure. They just fight amongst themselves. We're talking 2 world wars. Sorry if you're European, but the place is trash. No one can play nice in the sandbox. It's CA on steroids. Thinking they're better than what they actually are.
There’s lots more bad news for Biden and his neocons. For just one example, Hungary’s solidly anti-Ukraine, anti-immigration, pro-Trump Prime Minister Viktor Orban is taking his seat as the European Union President. His slogan? “Make Europe Great Again.” I am not making that up
Oh look, a completely impossible to verify screen shot
he was given 3 years to diversify away from getting his oil supplies
Hungary and Slovakia are land-locked countries that rely heavily on oil imports to meet domestic needs. A critical artery for both is the Druzhba pipeline, originating in Russia. The southern leg of the Druzhba passes through Ukraine, where it splits into two branches—one that continues through Hungary and the other through Slovakia. The geography here gives the Ukrainians significant leverage over their Western neighbors, although they had heretofore been hesitant to use it.
That seems to have changed in the aftermath of Orbán’s globetrotting. In a move that was almost certainly taken with the approval of Brussels, the Ukrainians finally exercised their advantage:
Although one can hardly blame Ukraine for seeking to dent Russia’s oil revenue, doing so in this way looks set to cause a fuel crisis in the impacted countries. The move does not excuse Zelenskyy from associated peril, however. While he was closing the valves on the Druzhba, Ukraine was relying heavily on Hungary for electricity imports to offset some of the failure of its war-devastated energy infrastructure. We turn to Hungary Today for the details:
“In recent days, Hungary’s net exports of goods to Ukraine have reached an all-time high. Ukraine’s electricity production has been forced to rely on imports to cover the huge shortfall in energy production caused by the Russian attacks, while Ukrainian demand for electricity has also soared in the summer heat. The result was that in June, Hungary was by far the largest exporter of electricity to our eastern neighbor, and this is expected to continue for weeks in the heatwave…
The severe electricity market situation in Ukraine, a drastic drop in production capacity and a surge in demand during the summer heatwave led Ukraine’s deputy energy minister to say the other day that Ukraine was in talks with neighboring countries to further increase Ukrainian electricity imports from the currently agreed level (1.7 GW), which is almost exhausted. This is clearly reflected in the time series of Hungarian-Ukrainian net electricity flows. Net electricity exports to Ukraine have jumped to over 1,000 MW in several quarters in recent weeks.”
Hungary also has other levers to pull. And Slovakia exports a lot of juice to Ukraine as well:
“Budapest will continue blocking the disbursement of 6.5 billion euros ($7 billion) from the European Peace Facility (EPF) for Ukraine military aid until Kyiv allows the transit of Russia's Lukoil oil, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on July 23.
Both Hungary and Slovakia said that Ukrainian sanctions effectively halted the oil transit of the Russian Lukoil company to the two countries.
The Slovak leadership also threatened unspecified repercussions against Ukraine, reminding Slovakia's key role as an electricity supplier amid Ukraine's energy deficit caused by Russian strikes.”
Hungary and Slovakia are signatories to a mutual defense treaty that binds 30 other members to come to their aid should they find themselves under military attack. While bickering between allies is nothing new, the situation at the eastern edge of the NATO alliance is unsustainable, especially if a solution to the current impasse is not swiftly found. Just this week, a deputy foreign minister in Poland stated that Hungary should leave NATO and the EU altogether to instead “create a union with Putin and authoritarian states.” Brussels has little use for Orbán and Fico and vice versa, and their current stance makes divorce a real possibility.
“I’ve spoken frequently about the welcome signs that America’s European allies are waking up to the strategic challenge posed by the PRC, and to the dangers of predatory Chinese influence in their own backyards.-- The Turtle
“Like America, our allies are watching the flaws of China’s statist economic model laid bare. They’re increasingly wary to hitch their wagons to a totalitarian system that stifles innovation, discourages free thought, and complicates free enterprise.
“They’re hesitant to take risks in a system where the rule of law is trampled by the whims of the state, and assets are subject to expropriation by the regime.
“Encouraging progress, like a German security strategy that explicitly recognizes the Chinese threat, and efforts across the EU to reduce reliance on Chinese technologies, presents opportunities for the West to work closer together. To secure supply chains. And to lower barriers to cooperation among allies.
“Unfortunately, this progress is not across-the-board. China may not be a safe business partner, but it’s still an enticing one for far too many economies… including within the NATO alliance.
“I’ve spoken before about Hungary’s decade-long drift into the orbit of the West’s most determined adversaries. It’s an alarming trend. And nobody – certainly not the American conservatives who increasingly form a cult of personality around Prime Minister Viktor Orban – can pretend not to see it.
“Hungary’s leaders aren’t cozying up to Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran in private. They’re doing it publicly and vocally as well.
“The Orban government has welcomed China’s view of a ‘European bridgehead’ in Hungary as the perfect complement to its own declared policy of an ‘opening to the East.’ And it hasn’t been shy about turning words into actions.
“When Chinese state enterprise has said jump, Hungarian officials have asked, how high?
“As European allies began to heed warnings from the Trump Administration to reduce reliance on Chinese industry and technology, Budapest repeatedly blocked EU progress and welcomed a geyser of Chinese Belt-and-Road investment.
“Included in the torrent of PRC influence was five-hundred-million Euros from a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer to build a new facility on Hungarian soil… and another seven-billion-euro investment in a new EV battery plant.
“Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of a former vassal of Russian communism has nothing but praise for the neo-Soviet imperialist responsible for the first major land war in Europe since 1945.
“Viktor Orban describes the regime that has sacrificed tens- if not hundreds of thousands of Russian lives and more than $200 billion dollars in military force for its unprovoked – and thus far unsuccessful – aggression against Ukraine as ‘hyper-rational’.
“But this NATO Prime Minister doesn’t just admire Putin. He helps him. His government runs interference for Moscow, gumming up European and trans-Atlantic efforts to combat Russia’s unlawful aggression at every turn.
“European allies are providing more assistance to Ukraine than the US is, but Americans who complain the EU isn’t doing more to help Ukraine should look no further than to Budapest’s efforts to block additional EU assistance for the answer.
“And then there’s Budapest’s relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hungary’s Foreign Minister has bemoaned that ongoing international sanctions make it ‘really challenging to build effective economic and trade cooperation’ with the world’s most active state sponsor of terror.
“I have little sympathy for Hungarian companies that struggle to profit from their ties to the genocidal regime in Tehran.
“Of course, that hasn’t stopped Hungarian firms from committing tens of millions of dollars to financing joint nuclear projects with Iran.
“It didn’t stop a national Hungarian university from inviting the former Iranian President to a conference on ‘common values in the global environment’.
“’Common values’ with Tehran. And here I thought it was American conservatives who claimed shared values with Hungary’s ruling party. Has the Orban government forgot its adoring fans on this side of the Atlantic?
“No. Hungary’s leaders have made no secret of their conviction that the future is one of American decline. They’re not hiding the ways they’re preparing for American weakness and betting on our failure.
“There’s nothing tough about bowing to autocrats. And there’s nothing for America’s leaders to gain by praising those who do.
“Subservience to revanchist powers is not an American value. But far more importantly, it is not in America’s interests.”
Orban's K-12 LGBTQ+Pedo Ban, national autonomy from EU, and non-intervention in Ukraine policies receive Public Support.
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