It's certainly thunk provoking. Orbán and Fico are notorious Kremlin catamites. Yet both are fading forces even with Orbán's incumbent tilted voting system. Farage and Le Pen have records of Kremlin funding and connections
It's not as warm a relationship as you think.
The far right in Europe is quite limited in resources/power (within the grand total of Europe). So when the russians or chinks come and offer them some of their resources that's very, very welcome. The far right knows that it stinks, but they don't care because they see/saw immigration ect as THE issue and those resources help with that. It also doesn't help that there are quite a few grifters in the far right that will suck cock for cash.
But in the end that's it a quid pro quo.
The moment that the russians can't scratch theirs they stop scratching it's.
Or if they don't need it anymore. Like in Italy where the far right is both pro-Ukraine and anti-CCP
I'm not excusing them being a bitch boy for pay to putin. Nor am I denying that there are true zigger believers.
But just pointing out that it has always been an opportunistic relationship.
Now if you want to see some true to go open and honest ziggering and chinking go look at the various communist and repackaged communist parties and movements across Europe and in southern Europe in particular.
European nations maintained at least credible defense forces
If the russians didn't think that that Europe doesn't pose a military threat, why didn't the russians go for Finland instead of Ukraine?
It's not a part of NATO, there isn't a US commitment to defend it. It has a smaller population and military than Ukraine. It more difficult to supply relying on a couple of roads in the north and it's rail network doesn't use the same gauge as the rest of Europe. Most of it's population, industry ect is along the gulf of Finland less than 250km from the border with russia.
Failing to defend Finland would have shattered the EU and then Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe is yours for the taking.
They probably didn't because in the EU there are about 1.5 million professional soldiers and about an other half a million more in the reserves.
1.5 million men with some 5k MBT's, 3.5k artillery barrels, 25k IVF/APC/MRAP plus sizable modern navies and air forces.
EU member states spend about a third as much as the US does on defense. It surprise surprise isn't as large or capable as the US. But you don't need to be as big and capable as the US to pose a challenge to russian ambitions.
And that's all it has to do, be big enough and credible enough that the russians don't get any funny ideas about EU member states.
So there wasn't really an incentive to build up defense much more as a collective especially in Western and Southern Europe. The Eastern European certainly felt like they needed to do so and so they did. Because they have the incentive to do so with the russians right axross their borders.
If the US really wanted to they could have given any number of incentives for them to go and build out their armies. But that would have involved giving the Europeans more initiative on the global sage and more independence from the US. And again the US behaves like an empire, it doesn't want for it's allies/vassals to become to independent from them. It wants them in a Goldilocks zone. Strong enough that they are footing most of the cost of their defense but not so much that they can be an issue if they get any funny ideas.
And under that frame of reference the Europeans where perfect. They are paying for 4/5 of what it would take to keep russians contained as much for them selves as for the US. But aren't strong or organized enough to start causing problems for US foreign policy or to challenge it for dominance over the Atlantic.
Even when the invasion happened and the US said it wanted the European to do more, for the Europeans that sounded exactly like all the other times the US had said it and then dropped it when the crisis/war/20years of fucking around in the sandpit is over.
What Trump and Vance did wasnt' convincing allies to spend more like the US wants them to do.
It was convincing the US's allies that the US isn't reliable as an ally anymore and as a consquence they should rearm.
Here's what caused the shift
You have one small problem, the linear flow of time.
Trump and Vance stopped bitching about European domestic politics after the general ellections in Germany, well before the EU defence initiatives.
And again the stick wasn't to stop asking nicly but to make every US ally and partner around the world question it's relieability.
Oh man yeah we wouldn't want Europe to allow hostile foreign powers to set up operations bases in Europe
I'd dare say that is a major difference between the Chinese sneaking in some police / economic development and say hosting some Chinese attack submarines in Brest and having them take part in exercises with the French and Spanish navies.
That being said there where and probably still are Chinese overseas police in the US right now. Those places don't work with the official aproval of their "host" gouvernemnts but by flying under the radar.
As for economic coperation. The US has more trade with china than the Europeans do.
That all being said why shouldn't European countries work with the Chinese in some degree?
China isn't their avisary and the US under the Trump regime doesn't seem to care about russia being their primary advisary.
The US does it as well, even funding gain of function research in a lab with ties to the PLA's chemical and biological warfare division.
It imposes sanction and export restrictions when the US asks them to do so.
So in shot it doesn't so anything more than the US does when it comes to China.
As for the energy issue, yes. Europe need russian energy, there simply aren't any large providers with the capacity to replace them at a reasonable price.
Europe isn't blessed with the kind of energy reserves they'd need to be self sufficient. Certainly not in the short term.
IF this is a major issue for the US they are free to try and secure more non russian hydrocarbons for them. Like they have been for decades.
for instance try and resolveing the Marrokan/Algerian border issue that is holding back further development of it's gas fields.
The same with several proposed pipeline to connect the middle east with Europe.
God know that the Europeans have been trying for decades.
Take your pick from:
Resolveing the Marrokan/Algerian border issue that is holding back further development of it's gas fields.
The Turks insisting on any pipelines going trough the bit of Turkey that got wreck by an earthquake just so they can tax it and a EEZ dispute with the Greeks.
The Syrians: the French getting cock blocked by both the russians and US when they tried then the civil war happening.
Iraq going to absolute shit for some completly inexplicable reason.
Iran being completely off the table due to US sanctions.
Isreal blocking up any potential southern routes, provided you can build a pipeline over the arabian desert to even get there.
Geography simply doesn't favor Europe when it comes to energy.
While entirely correct to those who bother to pay attention to the nitty gritty details of how the world really works. To the average Joe Blow who does the 9 to 5, comes home to get shit face, grill and maybe fuck the spouse or other. They're not going to pay attention to any of that and gone by whatever the talking heads tell them. So when they see no tangible, physical returns on the taxes they pay to "defend" other countries, those countries REEEing at the suggestion maybe they should help with their defense. Fellow Americans being deployed, injured and killed keeping the oil flowing and the Muslims getting rich without doing anything other than letting Americans put military bases in their countries. Oh yes the average American John and Jane smuck are gonna turn fuck the world isolationist eventually and that eventuality is here.
You are right that to the average American this looks like a shit deal.
The cost of it is very easy to imagine and put a dollar sign on, the benefits to them are very spread out and hard to point to.
I'd like to make an analogy with the Roman grain dole.
When it was first handed out is was a clear sign of the benefit the empire brought it's citizens. But when you keep getting it generation after generation it's just a part of life. It has lost all value to Janius Ictus until it's gone.
That is why if the elite running the society is competent they make sure to keep it going even if it's not popular.
That being said I hope the US stay strong in it's possition as hegemon and the dollar stays on as the global reserve currency.
Neighter of those will change without wrecking the world economy. And I've lived trough one recession to many to want to go trough that again.
Aside from ofc wishing our American friends and fellow shitposters all the best. If furries don't have tens of thousands of dollars to blow on stupid shit who else are we going to laugh at?
