Moscow, Nov 7 (Online): European countries must not waver in their support for Kiev because Ukraine\u2019s defeat could spawn copycats of Russian President Vladimir Putin among politicians in the EU, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has warned.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Bloomberg on Monday, Ciolacu vowed that Bucharest would continue its \u201cmulti-dimensional support\u201d for Kiev, even despite the fatigue of the conflict and the potential adverse political ramifications of such an approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese political costs are less important than the precedent a Russian victory would create,\u201d he stressed, pointing at what he called a surging popular support for right-wing and populist parties across the continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imag[ine] how many Putin lookalikes we would get among certain populist European politicians?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
He lamented that EU leaders are struggling to reach a consensus on Ukraine\u2019s accession to the bloc, given the stance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his newly-elected Slovak counterpart Robert Fico. Ciolacu also warned that the EU Parliament elections scheduled for June 2024 may bring \u201cmore extremist voices in[to] the assembly,\u201d which he said \u201cwould create a bigger vulnerability\u201d within the bloc.<\/p>\n
In recent months, Hungary, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy, has repeatedly criticized the EU\u2019s Ukraine policy while refusing to supply arms to Kiev and denouncing sanctions against Moscow as detrimental to the bloc\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
This approach is in many regards shared by Fico, who ran on a campaign slogan of \u201cnot a single round\u201d to Ukraine \u2013 a promise his party kept after its election victory last month. Both countries have also opposed the EU\u2019s \u20ac50 billion ($53.4 billion) assistance package to Ukraine.<\/p>\n
While some Western media have branded both Orban and Fico as \u201cpro-Russian,\u201d Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov dismissed the notion, suggesting that the label is being applied to those leaders who tend to \u201cthink about their nation\u2019s sovereignty\u2026 [and] defend the interests of their country.\u201d <\/p>\n
A number of Western politicians have also voiced concern about growing fatigue with the Ukraine conflict. This sentiment was made public when right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni admitted in a phone call with Russian prankster duo Vovan and Lexus earlier this month that European leaders are \u201ctired\u201d of the hostilities, adding that \u201cwe [are] near the moment in which everybody understands that we need a way out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moscow, Nov 7 (Online): European countries must not waver in their support for Kiev because Ukraine\u2019s defeat could spawn copycats of Russian President Vladimir Putin among politicians in the EU, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has warned. Speaking to Bloomberg on Monday, Ciolacu vowed that […]<\/p>\n
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