Putin's Western Allies: Why Europe's Far Right Is on the Kremlin's Side

[okaawhatever]

Given that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated reasons for invading Crimea was to prevent “Nazis” from coming to power in Ukraine, it is perhaps surprising that his regime is growing closer by the month to extreme right-wing parties across Europe

SNIP

In Hungary, for example, Putin has taken the Jobbik party under his wing. The third-largest party in the country, Jobbik has supporters who dress in Nazi-type uniforms, spout anti-Semitic rhetoric, and express concern about Israeli “colonization” of Hungary.
In May 2013, Kremlin-connected right-wing Russian nationalists at the prestigious Moscow State University invited Jobbik party president Gabor Vona to speak. Vona also met with Russia Duma leaders including Ivan Grachev, chairman of the State Duma Committee for Energy and Vasily Tarasyuk, deputy chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources and Utilization, among others. On the Jobbik website, the visit is characterized as “a major breakthrough” which made “clear that Russian leaders consider Jobbik as a partner.” In fact, there have been persistent rumors that Jobbik’s enthusiasm is paid for with Russian rubles. The party has also repeatedly criticized Hungary’s “Euro-Atlantic connections” and the European Union. And, more recently, it called the referendum in Crimea “exemplary,” a dangerous word in a country with extensive co-ethnic populations in Romania and Slovakia.

The Kremlin’s ties to France’s extreme-right National Front have also been growing stronger. Marine Le Pen, the party leader, visited Moscow in June 2013 at the invitation of State Duma leader Sergei Naryshkin, a close associate of Putin’s. She also met with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and discussed issues of common concern, such as Syria, EU enlargement, and gay marriage. France’s ProRussia TV, which is funded by the Kremlin, is staffed by editors with close ties to the National Front who use the station to espouse views close to National Front’s own perspective on domestic and international politics. The National Front wishes to replace the EU and NATO with a pan-European partnership of independent nations, which, incidentally, includes Russia and would be driven by a trilateral Paris-Berlin-Moscow alliance. Le Pen’s spokesman, Ludovic De Danne, recently recognized the results of the Crimea referendum and stated in an interview with Voice of Russia radio that, “historically, Crimea is part of Mother Russia.” In the same interview, he mentioned that he had visited Crimea several times in the past year. Marine Le Pen also visited Crimea in June 2013.

The list of parties goes on. Remember Golden Dawn, the Greek fascist party that won 18 seats in Greece’s parliament in 2012? Members use Nazi symbols at rallies, emphasize street fighting, and sing the Greek version of the Nazi Party anthem. The Greek government imprisoned Nikos Michaloliakos, its leader, and stripped parliamentary deputies of their political immunity before slapping them with charges of organized violence. But the party continues to take to the streets. Golden Dawn has never hidden its close connections to Russia’s extreme right, and is thought to receive funds from Russia. One Golden Dawn­­–linked website reports that Michaloliakos even received a letter in prison from Moscow State University professor and former Kremlin adviser Alexander Dugin, one of the authors of Putin’s “Eurasian” ideology. It was also Dugin who hosted Jobbik leader Vona when he visited Moscow. In his letter, Dugin expressed support for Golden Dawn’s geopolitical positions and requested to open a line of communication between Golden Dawn and his think tank in Moscow. Golden Dawn’s New York website reports that Michaloliakos “has spoken out clearly in favor of an alliance and cooperation with Russia, and away from the ‘naval forces’ of the ‘Atlantic.’”

Continued at Link:
Mitchell A. Orenstein | Why Putin Is Allied With Western Europe's Far ...

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141067/mitchell-a-orenstein/putins-western-allies

If that link is paywalled the google link below should work

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=17&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CE4QFjAGOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignaffairs.com%2Farticles%2F141067%2Fmitchell-a-orenstein%2Fputins-western-allies&ei=nFY0U8XGGeessASSkoDACQ&usg=AFQjCNHC-7HjihlUYZgrmjdd9-aDLsBWxg&sig2=DHXvyvQbac4A9ykDbAhwnw

[snappyturtle]

1. You realize that your link is published by the Council on Foreign Relations.....

I think we need to be careful here. Look at the 'interim' government the U.S. is supporting in Kiev. Maybe this article is trying to get us focused on the Russian Federation rather than on U.S. foreign policy. Just sayin'.....

[Bosonic]

2. Polls indicate that the far right don't have much public support in Ukraine

They are quite popular with the media and ct'ers, but I think reality is more boring

Parliamentarian Poroshenko leads among potential presidential candidates in Ukraine with 24.9% - poll

Nearly a quarter of Ukrainians are ready to vote for parliamentarian Petr Poroshenko in the presidential elections on May 25, as is evident from a poll conducted by the SOCIS social and marketing research center, the Kyiv International Sociology Institute, the Rating sociological group, and the Razumkov center.

The poll, where results were presented on Wednesday by the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, showed that 24.9% of the respondents are willing to vote for Poroshenko in the presidential elections, 8.9% for UDAR party leader Vitali Klitschko, 8.2% for Batkivshchyna party leader Yulia Tymoshenko, 7.3% for Party of Regions parliamentarian Serhiy Tihipko, and 4.2% for former Kharkiv regional administration head Mykhailo Dobkin.

Ukrainian Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko may expect support from 3.6% of the voters, Radical Party leader Oleh Lyashko from 3.5%, parliamentarian Anatoly Hrytsenko from 3.2%, Svoboda party leader Oleh Tyahnybok from 1.7%, Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh from 0.9%, and Ukrainian Choice leader Viktor Medvedchuk from 0.4%.

When the respondents were asked who, in their view, would be elected president regardless of their preferences, 23.6% mentioned Poroshenko, 8.8% Tymoshenko, 6.6% Klitschko, 3.6% Tihipko, and 0.9% Symonenko.

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_26/Parliamentarian-Poroshenko-leads-among-potential-presidential-candidates-in-Ukraine-with-24-9-poll-4807/

[starroute]

4. The fascist element in Russia is very real

It's not clear to me whether Putin actively embraces it or merely exploits it -- but either way it's there and it has a coherent ideology and weird occult roots that exalt the idea of "Eurasia." For example, it's worth reading up on National Bolshevism (a name coined in imitation of the Nazis' National Socialism), which is referred to indirectly in the OP:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Bolshevism

National Bolshevism is a political movement that combines elements of extreme nationalism (especially Russian nationalism) and Bolshevism. It is often anti-capitalist in tone, and sympathetic towards certain nationalist forms of communism and socialism. Nevertheless, National Bolshevism is separate and distinct from National communism.

Today, Russia is considered to be the center of National Bolshevism, and almost all of the National Bolshevik parties and organizations in the world are connected to it. Amongst the leading practitioners and theorists of National Bolshevism are Aleksandr Dugin and Eduard Limonov, who leads the unregistered and banned National Bolshevik Party (NBP) in Russia. Influenced heavily by the idea of geopolitics, current Russian National Bolshevik movements propose a merger between Russia, Europe and parts of Asia, in a union to be known as Eurasia.

The Franco-Belgian Parti Communautaire National-Européen shares National Bolshevism's desire for the creation of a united Europe, as well as many of the NBP's economic ideas. French political figure Christian Bouchet has also been influenced by the idea.