this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
32 points (94.4% liked)
World News
33405 readers
1114 users here now
News from around the world!
Rules:
-
Please only post links to actual news sources, no tabloid sites, etc
-
No NSFW content
-
No hate speech, bigotry, propaganda, etc
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The rational position for Russia is to work with European parties that will work with them. It's that simple. Russia hasn't been imposing any ideology in Europe, but they will obviously support political parties that aren't openly hostile to them. Why wouldn't they do that exactly?
Austria is neutral we aren’t taking part in the war in Ukraine….We even fined the United States when they entered our country carrying weapons that were destined for Ukraine.
Putin is an authoritarian, this shouldn’t be a controversial take no matter how you feel about NATO, but you’re right he does fund the section of the bourgeoisie that serve his material interests in Austria that happens to be the right and far right. I think that fucking sucks.
Why should I support far right racist parties who are the literal descendents of the SS? If you’re working with and funding a party you are obviously trying to impose some kind of ideology if he hated Nazis so much he wouldn’t be hanging out with them. He’s a cynical political actor clinging to his power and wealth.
I’ll reiterate this once again could the war in Ukraine have been stopped YES do I support foreign governments meddling in other peoples politics NO. This goes for both the United States and Russia. Both parties are guilty of doing this and they’re both as shitty as each other. My sympathy goes to the normal people who are wrapped up in bourgeoisie power struggles getting sent to their deaths or having their testicles blown up by landmines so that a bunch of assholes in comfy offices can go to their holiday mansions by the Black Sea or Hawaii
That's not actually true is it though https://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/austrian-embassy-to-lithuania/news/detail/austria-stands-with-ukraine-as-long-as-it-takes
Authoritarianism is a completely meaningless term. Every government has authority by virtue of having a monopoly on legalized violence. That said though, Putin enjoys far higher public approval than any European government.
Nobody suggested anything of the sort. What I pointed out was that mainstream parties are hostile towards Russia, as the link above clearly shows. Putin is a cynical actor, but so are European politicians. I don't actually see much difference here.
Europe has a long history of meddling in foreign governments. Georgia is a great recent example where European politicians travelled and protested the election results. The reality is that Europe is run by capitalists just like US and Russia are, and it seems that politics in Europe are shifting further to the right than in Russia at the moment.
I‘m also aware that humanitarian aid sounds sketchy, hell it might be but officially Austria is providing no material support to the armed forces of Ukraine, just fyi I also think we should give a place to Russian deserters as well which some libs here probably wouldn’t want to do.
Did I say Europe isn’t run by capitalists? I’ll say it again I think all these people suck and need to go away. I was against the war from the get go and over a million people dying for these shitty people sucks. Idk why you are trying to deflect from the fact that Russia also supports shitty Nazis (guess what when a country is run by the bourgeois far right ideologies flourish)
I think Russia is still more right wing than Europe we still have politicians here who don’t believe in trad wives and hating the gays, even if they are liberal I do prefer that to Putins blend of social conservatism/the church/ capitalism,and why do you expect me to be happy that Europe is moving in the same direction?
Anyways I feel like we disagree on somethings and that’s fine, just don’t pretend Putin is some kind of based Bolshevik he’s far from it.
I'm not trying to deflect from anything. I've repeatedly pointed out that Russia will work with whatever parties take pro Russian stance in Europe. They don't care if those parties are on the left, the centre, or the right.
It seems that your definition of right wing is being socially conservative which it certainly is. However, in terms of economic policies, the picture is quite different. CPRF is far more left than pretty much any party in Europe and they have a strong representation in the government. Russia never fully embraced liberal policies and the state remains at the commanding heights of the economy. A 2023 World Bank study gives a pretty good overview of this. In particular, it distinguishes between businesses of the state (BOS), that are at least 10% government owned by some government, and state owned enterprises (SOE), which are majority owned or more, and controlled, by the government. And another study has a chart showing SOE in Russia compared with China. Russia also managed to retain many of the labor rights it inherited from USSR. Vast majority of Russians see USSR and by extension communism in a positive light.
To be clear, I don't think Putin is some kind of a Bolshevik or that he's on the left. Putin and his party are capitalists who are acting in their own national interest. However, the overall picture in Russia is more complex than that.
I would say being socially conservative makes Russia more right wing than the state I currently live in. We still have social democracy here as well (although obviously neo libs want to gut it) and I would rather live here than in Russia right now. Judging by all rich ass Russians i have known here it seems to be the case for them as well (Then again borders only ever really exist for us plebs.)
I literally hated all that lib/nazi Russians are orcs bullshit. I’m sure Russia would be a pretty awesome place if Putin didn’t hate queers and women and try push the church down people’s throats but sadly he kinda does do that. So I’m not in a rush to pack my bags and move yet.
The whole dive back into religion after the fall of USSR was an absolutely terrible thing to happen to Russia. There's no question about that. I wouldn't be in a rush to pack my bags and move to Russia either.
However, what I'm saying is that Europe could have normal relations with Russia even if values differ. In my opinion, Europe could learn a lot from the way China approaches geopolitics. They don't try to impose their values on others or create camps over some supposed shared values. They try to find ways to have win-win relationships with other countries while having mutual respect.
Zhou Enlai was an interesting politician I agree. I still think sexual freedom and women’s rights and the right to openly criticise your government aren’t some niche western value though and I’m sure lots of Russian citizens would enjoy having some of the same freedoms I have.
The point here is that it's not up to you to impose your values on others. People in Europe can run things any way they like, but they have to learn to respect how other countries are run going forward. It's up to people of Russia to figure these things out for themselves.
I’m not in the position to impose anything on any one.
I'm not talking about you personally here obviously. However, it's clear that western countries very much do try to impose their values on others. This includes imposing values by force through coups, invasions, and economic warfare. Portrayal of liberal democracy as the sole legitimate form of governance amounts to nothing more than modern-day marketing for colonialism. It serves as a pretext for justifying Western atrocities masquerading as benevolent civilizing missions. I'm saying that Europe has to abandon this mindset going forward.
I’m aware of all of this.