Foreign Digest: Russia, Syria, Communist China and Hungary

Russia: Several European States have recently accused the Russian Federation of a sabotage campaign. I have posted that Russia, which is led by a tyrannical ex-Soviet intelligence officer intent on restoring the Soviet Union, physically attacks Russian exiles abroad, and raided a Czech munitions warehouse, in addition to conducting cyberattacks against European States and America. It also had conducted a series of attacks against United States diplomatic personnel in the 2010s. The current sabotage campaign is a facet of Russia’s hybrid war against the West. Syria: A French court convicted three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia for war crimes last week. The Syrian Civil War began in 2011 as a popular uprising against the tyrannical Baathist regime of Bashar Assad. Assad, a state sponsor of terrorism backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, targeted civilians in residential areas with heavy bombs and even chemical weapons. Over half a million Syrians have been killed in the war and millions of others have become refugees. Communist China: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization accuses Communist China of arming the Russian Federation during its aggression against Ukraine. The United States had already imposed economic sanctions on the Chinese for complicity with Russian aggression. Hungary: A center-right lawyer, Peter Magyar who split with the ruling far-right anti-migrant populist Hungarian Government after it was rocked by scandal I had posted about, is making his party a serious contender in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament, as Hungary is a member of the European Union (EU). The election campaign by the upstart Magyar will be a prelude to presidential elections in 2026. The self-described “illiberal” authoritarian Prime Minister of Hungary is accused by his conservative challenger of presiding over a corrupt state that uses official means for propaganda to keep in power for the last 14 years. Human rights organizations, Western political parties and the EU have condemned the Hungarian leader’s infringement on academic, press and judicial freedoms. The EU’s withholding of funds to Hungary, which it calls an “electoral autocracy,” has contributed to Hungary’s economic difficulties. There have been mass protests over the years and especially after the recent scandal. In the last elections two years ago, the diverse opposition united around a conservative Catholic candidate, who won millions of votes, despite being denied equal access to State television broadcasts. Hungary is an ally of the United States as a member of NATO, but its pro-Putin Premier’s opposition to the Russian aggression against Ukraine has made Hungary the weakest link in the defensive alliance. Magyar opposes Russian aggression.