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Sane people would see Obama getting the Peace Prize for doing nothing and conclude the prize is a joke. Trump became hell bent on getting his own because of his irrational hatred for uppity Obama who thought he was better than Trump. I feel like Trump's villain origin story was the Trump roast Obama made at the WH Correspondents Dinner.
Haha, been so long since I saw this. I forgot how pissed he looked.
euobserver.com
I wanted to bring a spotlight on a developing story that has a potential impact on Hungarian elections in April, in turn the EU security for the next few years, and in turn has huge implications for Ukraine.
These are the main events over the past few weeks to my recollection:
1. On January 28th, the Russian oil stopped flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary. The pipeline traverses across western Ukraine.
2. Ukraine claims it's due to Russian strikes on the oil infrastructure near Lviv.
3. There are satellite images of an oil reservoir destroyed near Lviv on that day. It's not clear how/if this could have caused a disruption to oil transit.
4. Orban and Fico are freaking out - a clear case of the Russian oil withdrawal syndrome.
5. Hungary and Slovakia are demanding Ukraine drops everything and fixes the pipeline. Ukraine is saying they are a bit busy fighting the Russians at the moment.
6. Hungary, Slovakia, and EU are demanding their inspectors be allowed to assess the damage to the pipeline. Ukraine is stonewalling.
7. Hungary and Slovakia are trying to convince Croatia to start sending the Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline the other way. Meaning that Croatia should start accepting the Russian tankers in its ports and pump the oil back to Hungary. Croatia is saying "no, thank you".
7. Last week Orban's goons performed a blatant bank robbery. They stormed a Ukrainian armored bank truck that was transporting $40M EUR in cash and gold from Europe to Ukraine, transiting through Hungary.
8. Orban is holding the seized assets as ransom until Ukraine fixes the pipeline. EU is not condemning this, saying that it' Hungary's internal matter.
9. Zelensky got pissed and joked that if Orban keeps this up, Zelensky will share Orban's home address with Ukrainian Armed Forces so that they could have a talk.
10. The joke didn't go over well. Orban's goons are up in arms. Even the Hungarian opposition candidate Magyar sided with Orban on this one. EU leaders condemned the joke.
11. Orban is on a war footing. The speeches he gives make it sound like his country is at war, fighting for it's existence on all fronts, while he is the one-and-only true savior of the Hungarian people. Clearly milking the "rally around the flag" sentiment.
Here are a couple of articles on the topic:
Orbán–Zelensky clash deepens after cash seizure, pipeline dispute, and Kremlin interference fears
Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have plunged into meltdown after Volodymyr Zelensky threatened Viktor Orbán last week over blocked EU funding. This was followed by a dramatic cash and gold seizure in Hungary, while intelligence claims of Kremlin election interference in Hungary add another...
My worry is that Ukraine may overplay its hand. What if this actually plays in Orban's favor and helps him win the election? Before these events, the opposition was comfortably cruising to a win, enjoying a double digit lead in the polls.
Well, cutting Hungary and Slovakia off of the cheap Russian oil will go a long way towards not having Putin's henchmen in EU. Look at the wonders it's done for the German foreign policy after Ukraine blew up the Nord Stream pipelines.
Will Orban and Fico invoke article 5.?I wanted to bring a spotlight on a developing story that has a potential impact on Hungarian elections in April, in turn the EU security for the next few years, and in turn has huge implications for Ukraine.
These are the main events over the past few weeks to my recollection:
1. On January 28th, the Russian oil stopped flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary. The pipeline traverses across western Ukraine.
2. Ukraine claims it's due to Russian strikes on the oil infrastructure near Lviv.
3. There are satellite images of an oil reservoir destroyed near Lviv on that day. It's not clear how/if this could have caused a disruption to oil transit.
4. Orban and Fico are freaking out - a clear case of the Russian oil withdrawal syndrome.
5. Hungary and Slovakia are demanding Ukraine drops everything and fixes the pipeline. Ukraine is saying they are a bit busy fighting the Russians at the moment.
6. Hungary, Slovakia, and EU are demanding their inspectors be allowed to assess the damage to the pipeline. Ukraine is stonewalling.
7. Hungary and Slovakia are trying to convince Croatia to start sending the Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline the other way. Meaning that Croatia should start accepting the Russian tankers in its ports and pump the oil back to Hungary. Croatia is saying "no, thank you".
7. Last week Orban's goons performed a blatant bank robbery. They stormed a Ukrainian armored bank truck that was transporting $40M EUR in cash and gold from Europe to Ukraine, transiting through Hungary.
8. Orban is holding the seized assets as ransom until Ukraine fixes the pipeline. EU is not condemning this, saying that it' Hungary's internal matter.
9. Zelensky got pissed and joked that if Orban keeps this up, Zelensky will share Orban's home address with Ukrainian Armed Forces so that they could have a talk.
10. The joke didn't go over well. Orban's goons are up in arms. Even the Hungarian opposition candidate Magyar sided with Orban on this one. EU leaders condemned the joke.
11. Orban is on a war footing. The speeches he gives make it sound like his country is at war, fighting for it's existence on all fronts, while he is the one-and-only true savior of the Hungarian people. Clearly milking the "rally around the flag" sentiment.
Here are a couple of articles on the topic:
Orbán–Zelensky clash deepens after cash seizure, pipeline dispute, and Kremlin interference fears
Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have plunged into meltdown after Volodymyr Zelensky threatened Viktor Orbán last week over blocked EU funding. This was followed by a dramatic cash and gold seizure in Hungary, while intelligence claims of Kremlin election interference in Hungary add another...
My worry is that Ukraine may overplay its hand. What if this actually plays in Orban's favor and helps him win the election? Before these events, the opposition was comfortably cruising to a win, enjoying a double digit lead in the polls.
