oof

it feels quite bad that it's basically impossible to argue that much of the modern right in the west has become both entirely intellectually shallow and deeply, fundamentally morally corrupt without sounding like a tedious teenage tankie, because it is.....the factual truth

Yep

While the Kremlin struck a measured tone after the Hungarian election, other officials and pro-Kremlin voices seized on the chance to criticize Russia’s adversaries in the EU.

‘The perception is Carney is a wartime leader’: why Canada’s PM could secure a majority

❗️Donald Trump stated that he intends to seriously reconsider the issue of defending NATO countries from Russia. "I'm very disappointed with NATO. We spent trillions of dollars on NATO to help them defend themselves from Russia. And It's going to be very seriously reconsidered."

Some positives from Magyar's win for the EU -€bn for Hungary for its economy -€bn for Ukraine -Accession chapters unlocked for Ukraine & also for Moldova, which could move quite quickly -€ adoption -Isolates Fico -Could weaken the momentum for Bardella/RN in France

People will be closely studying how Hungary's opposition pulled off their win in such a pro-incumbent system. Important to note that the theme was corruption. Democrats need to get much better at calling out Trump's corruption.

Magyar says his first trip as prime minister will be to Warsaw. Then to Vienna. And then to Brussels. He promises that Hungary will join the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), a key step to unblocking over €17 billion in EU funds.

Orban consolidated power by making the electoral system less proportional and gerrymandering districts of very unequal sizes. That gave Orban supermajorities when the opposition was divided and less popular—but it turned an opposition landslide into a supermajority that can now dismantle the regime

Actually, it was most likely written for a president who becomes mentally unfit *while* in office, not one who was clinically insane already during the election campaign. Trump's hand-picked cabinet of sociopaths and lunatics have zero interest in getting rid of him.

💥🇭🇺🗳️First results of the Hungarian parliamentary elections are in: with 14.72% counted, the opposition leads with mandates nearing a two-thirds majority. Everything points to Viktor Orbán’s defeat and Péter Magyar becoming Hungary’s next prime minister.

Fidesz aren't happy. Really bad vibes from their press conference right now. Are they getting ready to torpedo the result? Gergely Gulyas, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, is saying Fidesz has recorded plenty of voter fraud, and that this will need to be investigated. Short presser. No Q&A

Ok to everyone asking about Chinese escorts: 1) the PLAN isn’t designed to operate that far from China. They don’t have the logistics vessels to put together an escort operation, at least quickly; 2) They’re months away from being able to do that if they started now….

Trump worries about "volatile, difficult, unpredictable people" having access to nuclear weapons.

The risk of the US navy attempting to enforce Trump's blockade against a Chinese convoy is no longer theoretical.

The point about "no safe passage" could escalate the conflict significantly, and put the US in direct conflict with China. We might be entering a world where countries will have to escort ships in convoys, like Russia has already started doing.

US will blockade the SoH

The dirty secret of post-illiberal governments is that they’re probably going to need a period of trust-me-bro militant democracy if any genuine and lasting reforms are to be made.

Obama’s nuclear deal took 100s of hours of negotiations. Large teams, with nuclear experts, working line by line. Vance thought he and two real estate guys could roll in and use leverage they don’t have, with the aura of a diplomatic superpower they no longer are. Schooled.

Orbán’s party is paving the way for contesting votes tonight.

Brexiters turn their backs on Donald Trump after Iran chaos Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch, Boris Johnson & Lord David Frost had high hopes for Trump’s second term We compare what they said as he returned to the White House... and what they say now as.ft.com/r/c46e29ed-9...

This is my assessment of why Trump’s war went so badly wrong. Underestimating an enemy and a belief in a quick victory are familiar sources of failure, compounded in this sense by incredible ultimatums and delusional claims. (£/free trial), open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...?

nothing says skilled diplomacy like spending a single day laying out your terms and then going home when they’re not immediately and unilaterally accepted bsky.app/profile/atru...

Carney: "The days of our military sending 70 cents of every dollar to the United States are over." *thunderous applause*

Middle East crisis live: Vance leaves Pakistan as historic peace talks with Iran break down

"The manifesto comes across as distinctly pro-Russian. "The current anti-Russian policies of the established parties… are not in Germany's interests," it says. It calls for energy sanctions on Russia to be lifted and for schools to teach more Russian."

Hungary… WOW 🤩🇭🇺

'We have to get ready for large-scale conflicts,' says Canada's military chief

Estonia is preparing for the worst-case scenario and openly identifies Russia as the main threat. In the event of war, if the country is completely cut off by air, sea, and land, it must be able to sustain itself independently for at least 30 days 📹 NEXTA

As Iran are claiming not to know where their mines in the Strait are, I'll just casually leave my recent piece here www.fpri.org/article/2026...

Two days before Hungary’s election, Trump pledges to buy votes for Viktor Orban with US taxpayer dollars.

The report about the Iranians not being able to find mines they laid may or may not be true, but it might have been nice if we’d kept our own minesweepers around lnk.thebulwark.com/3NuMaYj

Exclusive: President Trump has repeatedly promised his top administration officials pardons before he leaves office, according to people who have heard his comments. on.wsj.com/3PTqciC

Trump quote for the ages: “you don’t need a backup plan.”

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “The reason the administration so often does not act coherently is because it cannot,” Jonathan Rauch and Peter Wehner write “The world faces something new and baffling and frightening in Mr. Trump’s second term: a psychotic state.”

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: We are ready to move forward with a common European army. Not in ten years or two — but now. As soon as tomorrow.

When it comes to write the history of the last 16 months it will be about the weakness of US institutions to stand up to Trump, but the growing willingness of other states to do so. Trump’s major mistake was thinking the rest of the world was as craven as the GOP.

Canada pushes to join UK-Italy-Japan advanced fighter jet project ft.trib.al/yWJ0R2Z

New: France said it plans to move its government computers currently running Windows to the open-source software Linux to further reduce its reliance on U.S. tech. Comes at a time of growing instability and unpredictability on the part of the Trump administration and weaponization of sanctions, etc.

As long as the ceasefire lacks credibility, the strait will in practice remain closed. This is both due to incompetence and incoherence on the US side, and paranoia and infighting on the Iranian side.

Tends to happen when you decapitate the civilian leadership turning your opponent into an insurgency with missiles.

“If the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in any significant and stable way within the next three weeks, systemic jet fuel shortage is set to become a reality for the EU,” says representatives of EU airports. by Peter Campbell as.ft.com/r/e83beaf2-e...

Iranian leaders assess that Trump will not risk the economic consequences of restarting the conflict and will soften U.S. positions to reach an agreement. thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-2...

"Across Europe, non-EU countries from Iceland to Moldova have increasingly expressed interest in joining the bloc for security and safety rather than economic benefits following Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine and Trump’s threats to seize Greenland." @politico.eu www.politico.eu/article/mont...

And one thing we know for sure is that Trump will take us right back to the breaking point again. Until something really breaks for good. It’s so weird to see a deteriorating madman in charge of the US military, and by weird I mean scary af.

Russian MP Yaroslav Nilov advised Russians to carry paper maps, saying that this is a "new reality." They should thank tsar Putin for minimizing their screen time.

Iran is denying involvement in the attacks targeting Gulf countries, saying the strikes were not carried out by its forces and did not originate from its territory.-Israeli media

Exclusive: President Trump, upset at NATO allies' failure to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and angry that his plans to acquire Greenland haven't moved forward, discussed with advisers the option of removing some troops from Europe, a senior White House official told Reuters reut.rs/4vjOpyv