Vladimir Putin poses for a photo with young soldiers of the Russian military.
Image: AP
The US presidential election will influence the course of the Ukrainian war. But Europe should not look to Washington resigned to fate. Even without America, it would have the power to help Kiev win. A guest post.
viktor Orbán is no longer blocking European financial aid to Ukraine. This is good news, especially for Kiev. Brussels prevented Ukraine from becoming a plaything of Orbán's whims, commented the Ukrainian news portal Ukrainska Pravda. But it is also good news for the EU itself, which has prevailed against the systematic obstruction from Budapest. It's not just about playing poker for EU money. Orbán is gambling, but at the same time he is acting out of illiberal convictions and solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is a bridgehead for Russian politics within the EU.
However, the EU could have stopped Hungary's geopolitical detour much earlier and with less effort, for example when Orbán launched a campaign in 2017 to expel the Central European University from Budapest. The fact that the EU and especially Germany during the Merkel era allowed Orbán to violate university freedom, a fundamental principle of Europe, encouraged him to expand his political position into a de facto dictatorship.
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