Ironically, both his perceived pro and con are unlikely to be accurate. He won't tackle corruption in earnest; if he wanted to, he could've supported/joined the Change party. He's also unlikely to be as Kremlin-aligned as Fico, let alone Orban, because he won't dare be so assertive on the EU stage.

The "shock therapy killed millions" narrative is inaccurate, exaggerated, and manipulative. Yeltsin did "shock therapy" for less than 1yr; Poland implemented it fully and recovered quickly. The main finding of 1990s research is countries w hijacked, partial reforms, like Ru, had the worst crises...

Those who love to pity Russia for the 1990s economic crisis never consider why East-Central Europe dipped less and recovered faster. First, because ECE rejected communism decisively. Second, because it democratized, unlike Ru. Neither explanation suggests we should be mourning the Soviet demise.

So agree! Plus adding some burning questions for the (not only Western) left from us with Selbi Durdiyeva www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Any lament for whatever you think the intl order benefits of the Cold War were erases Eastern Europeans' right to freedom, human rights, and self-determination. Yeah, who cares they were occupied, at least we had two great powers balancing each other. It's extremely offensive.

Prominent leftists are mourning the Soviet demise, so let me re-share this article and stress why, imo, we're misinterpreting the 1990s economic crisis. Conceptualizing 1991 as collapse instead of liberation helps them to twist it into a tragedy narrative. www.eurozine.com/liberation-n...

You can't simultaneously lament the fall of the USSR and be a minimally credible anti-imperialist. You just can't. The USSR was an empire and it was brought down by anti-imperialist, local liberation movements and mobilization. In addition,...

Absolutely wild getting attacked by so many Stalin apologists. Wowza.

A non-trivial number of accounts flocking to tell me that "Stalin murdered millions" is a Nazi thing to say and equivalent to Holocaust denial. Unbelievable. Is no one teaching the purges. What the actual hell.

It’s incredibly patronizing when people treat the collapse of the USSR like a chess match between superpowers while ignoring the actual human beings on the ground. ​ It wasn't a CIA memo that ended it; it was millions of people finally reclaiming their sovereignty

Holodomor genocide denial is rampant and despicable. Please, if you see accounts spreading denial, recommend this free online course as push back: holodomor.ca/new-online-c...

JD Vance is salty that Zelensky beat him in a landslide in the Hungarian election.

Apparently, some of you need to hear this: if you teach another social science (not political science), keep your edgy opinion about how Mearsheimer and Sachs are smart commentators to yourself. Don't recommend them to your students. The algorithms already push Ru propaganda, don't add to it.

Imho, one lesson that the US opposition to Trump could draw from Orban's defeat is that calling out corruption and a horrible foreign policy might be more effective for opposition unity and mobilization than trying to move voters on the left/right cleavage in conditions of high polarization.

Some differences b/n Poland/Hungary which may matter for the democratic restoration process: Fidesz lost in a landslide and Tisza has a constitutional majority; PiS lost closely and retained the presidency. Poland's high ideological polarization is central to politics; Hu's main issue is corruption.

Interesting and important thread. The new Hungarian govt's success will depend greatly on how it handles anticorruption policy and the difficult task of restoring the integrity and independence of accountability institutions (courts, regulators)

This is the first time in the history of wars: Ukraine captured an enemy position solely with the help of ground robots, which took the occupiers prisoner, - Zelensky

ZELENSKY: We don’t want NATO 'light or EU 'light'. We want full membership in EU. NATO and EU can truly benefit from having us as a strong partner. Our military is powerful, and no one needs Ukrainian military 'light' in these positions. This is beneficial for both sides.

PETRAEUS: Every single night, Ukraine strikes legitimate military targets inside Russia that fuel Russian war machine: refineries, fuel depots, crude oil terminals and so on. Seeing these vast oil and export terminals go up in flames is a real testament to Ukraine’s extraordinary technology,

Funny how Szijjarto’s line after the leaks was that he’s proud of furthering the Hungarian national interest and there’s nothing wrong with diplomacy with Russia and now suddenly it turns out he needs to shred evidence of his great work.

When I planned my Eastern European politics class in the fall, I deliberately scheduled this week’s last lecture to focus on democratic resilience. The Orban defeat has given me a perfect opportunity to end on a hopeful note! #DefendDemocracy #BelieveInDemocracy!

For sure. Kudos to the Hungarian electorate for delivering such overwhelming defeat. Also a sign that autocratization wasn’t so complete that denial or repression could have been a feasible strategy. Orban did not have a Lukashenka strategy at his disposal.

Péter Magyar victory speech: "Hungary wants to be a European country again. We want to return to Europe." The crowd immediately chants "Russians, go home" in response.

The key to democracy is showing up in large numbers

Just wanted to say, you were spot on with this assessment Maria. I think most of us, myself included, thought Orban would try to prevent a free and fair election from taking place or even cancel the poll outright. bsky.app/profile/popo...

Either he's more of a democrat Trump (not a very high bar) or he knew that they also had a massive popular mobilization disadvantage... bsky.app/profile/grig...

The end of Orban has been greeted with chants of "Russia go home". It is an irony that this was the sentiment which launched Orban into politics in June 1989, speaking at the reburial of Imre Nagy, the Hungarian Prime Minister of 1956, executed in 1958 theorangefiles.hu/2013/06/20/f...

The upcoming anticorruption campaign will be hard. A constitutional majority goes a long way, but entrenched corrupt networks fight back and sabotage, they don't give up easily. Just ask Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, etc.

Get out of Ukraine!

Perhaps Magyar's most important promise, and the one that certainly resonates with voters: "never again a country without consequences!" The crowd chants: "To prison! To prison!" [with the corrupt officials of the outgoing government]

So Orban is more of a democrat than Trump and Hungarian democracy survived the Przeworski test: democracy is a system in which parties lose elections.

90 minutes before polls close in Hungary more people have voted than on any previous election day at the closing of the polls. An all-time record high turnout is now guaranteed, it will likely be around or above 80%. Particularly many people are voting in cities and large towns, a bad omen for Orbán

💥🇭🇺🗳️ WOW! 54.14% turnout by 1pm in Hungary’s historic election (vs 40.01% in 2022), where voters could end Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule. Massive participation, in line with independent pollsters’ predictions – who also predicted a massive opposition win. Polls close at 7pm.

🤬💔 Russian-occupied Oleshky, Kherson region. Yet another city destroyed by Russia's "liberation". Russia is effectively keeping the city under blockade: without fuel, electricity, medicine, and food. About 2,000 people currently remain in the city, including fifty children.

call me a liberal nationalist but I feel proud to export an American culture of space exploration, multicultural immigrant cuisine, the Black American music tradition, football basketball baseball, NY Jewish comedy, land grant universities, and social libertarianism

The leading candidate in the upcoming Bulgarian parliamentary election, Rumen Radev is an Orban admirer who shares the pro-Ru stance hidden behind a "peace, stability, and prosperity" narrative. If Orban loses big tomorrow, Radev's fortunes will dim a bit 🤞 eutoday.net/bulgarias-el...

This is incredibly moving. At last night’s anti-Orbán concert in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square, the crowd cheered ex-army recruitment star Captain Szilveszter Pálinkás — now a whistleblower — as he fought back tears. He recently said: “Orbán’s Moscow-friendly stance has only weakened our homeland.” 🇭🇺🇪🇺

No matter what some people on here seem to think, it is in fact entirely possible to oppose all US and Israeli military actions in Iran, without pretending that this somehow makes the Iranian government into the good guys. They did in fact murder tens of thousands of innocent civilian protesters.

Hungary… WOW 🤩🇭🇺

3. Each member has its own domestic politics and Trump is toxic in most. 4. How many European countries are prepared to lose ships and planes for Trump's war? The only thing more farcical than this is the idea that JD Vance can serve as a negotiator. Bad faith actors have no credibility. 2/2

I was just asked by a media outlet about Trump asking NATO for a plan for the alliance to do something about the Strait of Hormuz. Like fetch, it ain't gonna happen. 1. Trump started this without consultation so its his problem 2. NATO operates by consensus. Good luck with that 1/

Ru appeasement is the same policy whether it comes from the left or from the right. Leftists dress it up as anti-war and prioritizing other causes such as welfare and climate, whereas right-wingers sell it as economic national interest (let's buy Ru energy). Functionally, they're the same thing.

While fragmentation and polarization plague most democracies, Canada is seeing unprecedented unification around Mark Carney's Liberals as MPs from both the left and the right cross the floor to join. He is really killing it in this job too!

Imo, also a sign that Ukraine is confident in its domestic capacity and European support. The US has lost its leverage. We might see Witkoff/Kushner flail helplessly when/if they go to Kyiv (though, tbh, they are always pathetic so it’ll be hard to spot the difference)

If you are looking for something other than more bad news I give you this

Polanski has said he'll build a relationship w Pu and convince him to give up nuclear weapons; wants the UK to leave NATO; thinks sending weapons to Ukraine is bad and peace negotiations should be prioritized and some Green party fans are trying to gaslight me that he's not a vatnik. Get a grip.

My favorite part is when he says he’ll talk to “independent doctors”. Dude, what are those? Independent from whom or from what? I’d say being hand-picked to appear on the podcast of the govt’s top health officer takes their independence down a notch.

If their “diplomacy” on the Russo-Ukrainian war is any indication, we’re about to enter a cycle of though talk (nuclear and war crime threats), promises of a golden era of economic cooperation, and sullen withdrawals from negotiations while the war goes steadily on.

If Trump were a proven Kremlin asset, what would he do differently?

Russia loses record number of troops in March as Ukraine ramps up drone strikes. 🧵 1/5 ⬇️