Putin still has political friends in the West: ‘He’s the leader I look up to most’ | abroad

Hungarian President Viktor Orban has always supported Putin in the past, but since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hungary has also maintained sanctions against Russia. Orban had no choice, since Hungary is a member of the European Union. In addition, according to critical sources in Hungary, he hid his fondness for Putin during the elections in order to secure his fourth term as president.

For now, there are fears Orban will be the first in the EU to block sanctions against Russia. Orban has already rejected arms shipments to Ukraine through Hungary, and also opposes a boycott of gas and oil from Russia. Moreover, Putin congratulated President Orban on his fourth term and expressed his hope to strengthen the partnership between the two countries.

Orban is not the only one who has a good relationship with Putin. French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also spoke positively of Putin. Le Pen is currently doing well in the polls in France and it will not be easy for Macron to extend his presidency. To stay in the running in the presidential election, Le Pen is currently deliberately silent about the war in Russia.

In the advertising brochures of her party Rassemblement National (RN), there was first a photo of Le Pen cheering with Vladimir Putin, but immediately after the raid, those leaflets were destroyed and no longer distributed. In addition, her party borrowed 9 million euros from a Russian bank to pay for his election campaign.

As Le Pen tries to keep her sympathies for Putin under the radar, political experts say it should come as no surprise that Le Pen and her party will side with Putin after the election. This also fits the image of RN, as they are outspoken Euroskeptics. That is why European parliamentarians in the RN party usually vote against European bills that harm Putin.

There are also Putin admirers elsewhere in Europe. British politician Nigel Farage has said, albeit before the war, that Putin is the most admired political leader.

Before the invasion there was support for the Russian president in our country. Tom van Greiken admitted that some party members have supported Putin in the past. For example, McKellen’s advisor Frank Krellmann is known to sympathize with the regime in Russia, and Philip Dewinter admits he was wrong about the Russian president. “This is not our party line. We have distanced ourselves from Russian aggression in Ukraine from day one,” Tom van Greiken said in an interview with Gazette van Antwerp.

The biggest “enemy” of Russia has traditionally been the United States, but even in America there are supporters of Putin. A recent poll by The Economist showed that the Republican Party has more support for Putin than Democratic President Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris.