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It seems to be "both and", not "either or". I've spent a lot of time scanning german media lately, mainly because I'm interested in how german public opinion views its relationship with russia. Again, from your fave german rag: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-far-right-developing-closer-ties-with-moscow-a-963878.html "The parallels between the political stances of President Vladimir Putin's Russia and European right-wingers are as numerous as they are varied. Skepticism of immigration and a keen worry about the threat posed by Islamist extremism make Putin a natural ally for a xenophobic right whose political bread and butter is their vociferous attacks on European immigration policy. His heavy-handed leadership style and homophobic stance likewise don't hurt." *Fueled by Anti-Americanism* "But it is European right-wing populists' skepticism of the EU and the 28-member bloc's close ties with the US<http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/ukraine-crisis-exposes-gaps-between-berlin-and-nato-a-962978.html>which provides perhaps the broadest foundation for cooperation with Russia. Vassily Likhachev, a Russian parliamentarian who is deputy chair of the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, blasted the EU at the conference last Wednesday, calling EU resolutions relating to the Ukraine crisis "shameful" and said it was "clear" that the protests in Kiev were "a project developed by NGOs in the United States." "The cooperation between the European far right and Russia has been developing for some time. A report published by the Budapest-based Political Capital Institute in March, called "The Russian Connection: The Spread of Pro-Russian Policies on the European Far Right," notes that Moscow has shown an interest in Eastern European right-wing parties for several years now. The paper notes that, while admiration for Russia is not universal in Europe's ultra-conservative scene, there is a widespread "ideological and political affinity" between the far right and Russia." "Russia would like to destabilize and weaken the European political scene, and these parties are all anti-EU. They want to burn down the house," says Peter Kreko, one of the authors of the study. "I think that's the obvious goal. That and weakening the European-American alliance." On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 7:52 PM, Louis Proyect <l...@panix.com> wrote: > > > On 4/30/14 7:37 PM, Greg McDonald wrote: > >> And the only reason these other parties "support" Putin is not out of some >> ideological allegiance to the great right wing russian leader, but because >> they want to see the collapse of the EU. It suits their nationalism. >> > > That's not true. They identify mostly with his hatred of gays. That > Italian ultraright group I linked to before was ecstatic over how gays are > getting harassed in Russia. Here's a gay blogger commenting on that: > > http://gayburg.blogspot.com/2013/09/forza-nuova-sta-con-putin.html > > Frankly, I find it pretty disgusting how Putin is being hoisted on the > shoulders of much of the left after his pushing through anti-gay > legislation that not even the Republican right in the USA would have the > nerve to propose. I guess his "anti-imperialism" (arming the murderer > Bashar al-Assad) trumps gay rights. > > ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
