Putin's Best Friend In NATO

With the situation on the Ukrainian border remaining tense as Russian troops mobilize, Russia's autocratic thug leader Vladimir Putin entertained a fellow thug at his palatial offices in the Kremlin. Hungary's neo-fascist Viktor Orban, a favorite of the likes of Trumpist hack Tucker Carlson, gave Putin cover yesterday has he rejected the proposals of NATO and the U.S. in response to his extortionist demands that NATO not accept Ukraine as a member and to pull back its forces to pre-1997 lines (exposing much of eastern Europe).

Standing aside Putin yesterday, Orban gave Putin something he's been looking for -- a split in the NATO alliance. From the linked article:

"Visiting Moscow, Mr. Orban met privately for five hours with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and afterward said at an amiable news conference with Mr. Putin that he “did not see any intention” for Russia to escalate the conflict with Ukraine. [snip]

'The president was very calm and said that Russia’s demands for security guarantees are normal and should be the basis for negotiations,' said Mr. Orban. 'And I agree with that. We must negotiate.'  [snip]

Mr. Orban, perhaps Mr. Putin’s closest ally inside the European Union, has long been accused of undermining the 27-member bloc’s common foreign policy and democratic standards. It was the 12th meeting between the two leaders since 2013.

'Mr. Orban is practically behaving like a tool of Russian foreign policy,' said Peter Kreko, a senior fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and director of Political Capital, a research group in Budapest."  (our emphasis)

There are old-time Russian / Soviet stooges scattered throughout eastern Europe and elsewhere, who see their future as aligned with an aggressive and expansionist Russia, which, under Putin, is trying to reestablish the geographic and political footprint of the old Soviet Union. They, like Putin, have grasped the banner of "nationalism" to link with others around the world and here in the U.S. with the seditionist far-right. Orban's predictable betrayal at a time when NATO must show resolve in the face of Russian aggression needs to have consequences at the soonest appropriate time.

(photo: Fellow thugs Orban and Putin getting on the same page. Getty Images)