Democracy Digest: Zeman and Orban Join Chorus of Criticism of Russian Invasion

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Slapdowns, putdowns and reverse studs

Condemnation of Russia’s actions has been swift and fierce, even from the most unlikely quarters.

“The world will be a different place from now on,” Slovak Prime Minister Heger wrote on social media. “It’s an unforgivable act of barbarism from Russia and a gross violation of international law. Again we are seeing the revival of Russian imperialism in its aggressive, militant form.”

President Zuzana Caputova echoed Heger’s condemnation of the war and called the steps taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin unjustifiable. “All victims in Ukraine will be his victims and he will bear full responsibility,” Caputova declared.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the Putin’s most loyal allies in the EU, finally got round to condemning the Russia aggression after a meeting of the National Security Council early Thursday afternoon. “Hungary, together with our European Union and NATO allies, condemns Russia’s military action,” he said.

Orban said he’s hopeful European unity can be upheld, but stressed that Hungary has to stay out of the crisis. We will not deploy troops or military materiel in Ukraine, he said, though the country is ready to provide humanitarian assistance and is prepared to receive refugees.

That might mean amending current legislation that does not allow refugees to claim asylum in the country. In theory, refugees seeking asylum in Hungary should submit their applications at the Kyiv embassy and wait for a response from the Budapest-based immigration authority, the National-Directorate General of Alien Policing, before entering the country. That is obviously not feasible in the current situation.

The government earlier announced it will deploy troops to the easter border, but their tasks would be mainly to help refugees, implementing the traditional anti-refugee position is no longer valid, at least not for the people of Ukraine. Defense Minister Tibor Benko said earlier that Hungary is preparing for several tens of thousands of refugees, though in a document spotted by RTL.hu the government is not ruling out having to meet the challenge of 600,000 people arriving. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony has also announced he is taking all necessary preparations for accepting refugees.

The Hungarian opposition has been highly critical of the government’s fence-sitting strategy. “In 1956, we learned what it means when Russia occupies an independent state. Now the same thing is happening before our eyes: Vladimir Putin’s Russia has attacked Ukraine,” Peter Marki-Zay, the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate for the coming April election wrote on Facebook.

Marki-Zay accused Orban of being the West’s greatest traitor, Putin’s most important servant. “We condemn the war launched by the Russians and stand up for Ukraine and the Hungarians in Transcarpathia,” he wrote, while calling on the Hungarian government to stop the Paks nuclear power plant project with Russia from going ahead as part of the sanctions measures.

Russia’s swift and widespread attack appeared to shock even Czechia’s most fervent Russia hawks.

“I am appalled by the unacceptable behavior of the Russian Federation,” said Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. “Just yesterday the Russian ambassador told us that reports of a presence of Russian military troops in Donbas were disinformation from Western media. Unfortunately, it is obvious that lies have become a regular tool of the Russian state.”

That duplicity only helps to raise the level of alarm in a region well-versed in Russian imperialism. Earlier in the week, Lipavksy had joined in with his colleagues in parliament, most of whom seemed to share the same concern: that Putin is trying to build USSR MkII.

Czechia’s leadership has noted that the Russian “peacekeeping” invasion has a definite ring of familiarity. Many in Prague, starting with Prime Minister Petr Fiala, have noted the similarities with the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops and warned that Moscow is trying to resurrect the Soviet Union.

“The Czech Republic stands for a free and independent Ukraine. From our own history, we well remember that similar steps against sovereign neighboring states never lead to peace,” Fiala said. “Whoever believes that the actions and efforts of Putin to revive the USSR may end in eastern Ukraine, is wrong, would be naive and would not pursue a good and safe policy.”

Others recalled Moscow’s claim that it was compelled by the Western-manufactured liberalizing drive of the Prague Spring to send “fraternal help” half a century ago. “Russia is proving again that it does not know its brother,” tweeted Deputy Prime Minister Vít Rakusan.

Despite the inherent risks of blurting Godwin’s Law, others decided that the late 1930s crisis centered on the German minority in the Sudetenland, which Hitler helped create and then used as an excuse to invade Czechoslovakia, bears a closer comparison.

Whichever comparison works best, Czechia’s historical experiences with the 20th century’s twin totalitarian monsters made it a rough day on Thursday for those at the illiberal end of the political spectrum.

The Russian aggression appears to have sealed President Milos Zeman’s exit as Moscow’s main man in Prague, albeit the Kremlin had already given up on the weakened septuagenarian according to some.

And it’s not that he hasn’t been trying to get his gig back. Just a fortnight ago, Zeman, who has surrounded himself with Russia- and China-linked businessmen over recent years, slammed Western intelligence for predicting an invasion and insisted that Russia would not cross the border because it is “not crazy”.

Faced with evidence to the contrary, Zeman seems to have realized his own fate also, and so he made a lunge for safety as the West recoils from Putin’s aggression. Indirectly admitting his earlier claim was wrong, he said in an address to the country: “The irrational decision of the leadership of the Russian Federation will cause significant damage to the Russian state itself.”

He also called for “much harsher sanctions than originally planned,” in order to “isolate the lunatic”.

However, the president’s bid to change his spots was roundly rejected in Prague’s liberal quarters. “Zeman’s regret is late,” pronounced the Hospodarsky noviny daily. “He was part of the Russian disinformation operation and it can’t be fixed.”

Ahead of the invasion, Tomio Okamura, leader of the far-right SPD and junior Russian acolyte, took a more ambitious shot at pleasing his Kremlin handlers, running with the line that the conflict is being incited by NATO. He also managed to turn the conversation to his favorite topic as he forecast a dangerous flood of refugees.

Okamura is not alone of course in siding with Putin. He has a cynical army that has been rallying in support of his demands that Czechia should abandon its addiction to the EU and NATO, and side with the ultra-conservative empire that the Kremlin seeks to establish. The CEE cyber-activist group elves, which fights Russian propaganda and disinformation, reports that the Czech anti-vax army is now entering the fray.

“We have pointed out the rapid change of narratives of the Chcipl pes initiative,” the elves wrote on Facebook. “It is suspicious at what rate anti-quarantine measures defenders can divert from health and medical agenda to military-political… [but] the basic goal is the same: to divide society and crush democratic values.”

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