Is Russia interfering in elections in other countries? Until recently, it was only the Americans, who could be accused of committing cyber crimes against other countries. However, it appears today that Russia has become just as powerful, including in the financial field, despite the status of a "regional power", the economy of which is "in tatters."
Russia could influence elections in 24 countries in four years, Director of US National Intelligence, James Clapper, said at recent Senate hearings. He assumed that Russia could affect election processes in many countries. Yet, Clapper did not specify either the names of those countries or any evidence to substantiate his statements.
European officials also believe that Russia will be trying to show massive influence on European elections in 2017. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Germany will have to come across a new type of election campaign.
Furthermore, former Latvian President Valdis Zatlers told TV3 that Russia was going to interfere in the upcoming elections to self-government bodies in Latvia. As you can see, dear reader, the hand of the Kremlin is a mighty tool indeed - it can reach even local self-government bodies of foreign states.
Zatlers referred to an example of such interference - Latvian MP Andrey Elksninsh, who is running in Daugavpils. "His ambition does not testify to positive thinking. One can not prove Russia's influence, but many things appear for themselves," the former president of Latvia said. Noteworthy, MP Andrey Elksninsh questioned the competence of the Latvian Minister of Defence, who had purchased used armored personnel carriers. Sounds like a good witch hunt story, does it not?
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted outgoing Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, who warned the European Union against Russia's attempts to destabilize Europe. According to Plevneliev, there are many signs that Moscow finances anti-European parties and media both in Bulgaria and other EU member states." Bulgaria's new president is a "pro-Russian," as they say in the West, General Rumen Radev, whose inauguration is to be held on January 22.
Other Washington's protege, Maia Sandu of Moldavia, said after her defeat in local elections that she was going to appeal the election results at the Constitutional Court. According to her, the elections were neither correct nor free. Sandu has not taken any action eventually.
The story continues in France, where all prominent presidential candidates are thought to be "pro-Russian" (Francois Fillon, Marine Le Pen). Some politicians believe that Paris should take seriously the threat of Russian intervention in the French election in 2017 and protect its democracy and citizens. A member of the National Assembly of France, Marie Le Vern, wrote for Libération that Russia threatens the security of French citizens.
Don't those politician understand that people no longer buy into this cheap propaganda? Most people understand that the whole story is not about Putin and Russia, but about the collapse of the domestic policy of pro-US neo-liberals who work for corporate welfare, rather than for the welfare of their peoples. The people understand that their governments are unable to protect them against the Islamic, rather than the Russian threat.
In the United States, neo-liberals have lost because they have lost their influence among the middle classes of the growing number of depressive states. These people have not seen any increase in the quality of life since 2009. For the first time in the history of the USA, they can not say that they live better than their parents did. They do not understand why they should pay for health care reform and why the US government legalizes illegal immigrants at the time when law-abiding people stand in line for the American dream that would not come true.
They do not understand why they lose their jobs. Those people cannot show Ukraine on the map of the world, and Russia is beyond their interests, but they do worry about the appearance of common toilets, uncontrolled minorities of all stripes and the decline of Christian values (America has always been a devout country).
In Western Europe, a growing generation of French people, for example, will live worse than their fathers and grandfathers for the first time after WWII. High taxation does not allow the French to enjoy life to the fullest, because they do not have enough money for it. In Germany, people do not believe in safe life anymore either.
In Eastern Europe, there are two paradigms. The first one is about the execution of propaganda from Washington, and the other one is about the fear to lose power. A growing number of Europeans realize that European integration has led to the degeneration of their countries. If Brussels does not support those countries, they will sink to the level of impoverished African states.
It is not Russia that poses a threat to Western countries. It is the people of the West, who vote and opt for those, who remind them of Putin and his aspiration to work for the people and protect them from the threat of Islamism. European and American paranoid politicians can see the threat of "Russian aggression" anywhere - from agriculture to nuclear industry. Yet, the realists, who gradually come to replace the paranoids, can clearly see that cooperation with Russia will be beneficial to their countries.
In addition, they are confident that cooperation with Russia will make Europe safer. For example, Igor Dodon, who came to power in Moldova, started building a dialogue with Transnistria. This is beneficial not only for Moldova, but also for Russia. Russia is fed up with the "chaos zone" that has been created around her. This is what drives the US mad.
Lyuba Lulko (Stepushova)
Pravda.Ru
Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru