In the European Union, some countries knowingly or unknowingly help Russian President Vladimir Putin, and candidates for EU membership, such as Serbia, do not even hide their closeness, lucrative deals with Moscow and support for Russia, writes the British newspaper Ekonomist in the article "Putin's useful idiots". .
With the Cold War term "useful idiots", the paper describes the governments and people who, for various reasons, but mostly out of self-interest, promote Putin's narratives in the West and cause damage to the attacked Ukraine.
Among the EU members, the paper is the first to mention Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is Putin's most prominent supporter, because he persistently criticizes the West for helping Ukraine, but still imports Russian oil and defends the transportation of aid to Kiev through his country's territory.
In second place, according to the paper, is Austria, which calls for neutrality, claims to be a bridge between East and West, and offers very little help to Ukraine, whose foreign trade exchange with Russia has recently flourished.
Another EU member, Greece, agreed to Brussels' sanctions against Russia, but refused to limit the transport of Russian oil, which is very profitable for Greek companies.
The economist writes that Cyprus, as an offshore paradise, only agreed to freeze about 40.000 Russian accounts after strong pressure from the USA.
As non-members who do not suffer as much pressure, Turkey and Serbia do not even try to hide the lucrative opportunities they offer Russia to circumvent sanctions.
Switzerland and Sweden are also mentioned in the text.
Switzerland, also citing neutrality, blocks the delivery of its weapons to Ukraine and from third countries, but at the same time continues to buy Russian gold.
Stockholm, for its part, with the court's permission to burn the Koran at the protest, provoked Ankara's anger and Turkey's veto on Sweden's entry into NATO, as well as scathing comments from Putin.
The newspaper indicates that in Europe the parties of the extreme right and the extreme left, which otherwise differ in many respects, are often united in their demand to immediately establish peace in Ukraine, even if it meant "so that Russian aggression would be rewarded with conquered and occupied territories" and gave a green light for Russia to expand its territory through war.
It is estimated that such European extreme rightists and leftists and the "intellectual" opposition are united by deep Cold War anti-Americanism, and in addition to various conspiracy theories, their main argument is that the EU allocates too much money for aid to Ukraine.
The narratives of such parties and individuals are very similar, and mostly boil down to the fact that NATO provoked Russia's attack, that Ukraine is an artificial creation belonging to Russia, and that the US is deliberately adding fuel to the fire in order to sell weapons and preserve its world hegemony.
As an example, the newspaper states that the leader of the extreme right in France, Marie Le Pen, the vice-president of the Italian government, Matteo Salvini, and the leaders of the German far-right Alternative for Germany, as well as the German Left party, are unique in such views.
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