JRL NEWSWATCH: “With Friends Like These: The Kremlin’s Far-Right and Populist Connections in Italy and Austria” – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace/ Andrew S. Weiss
“… A blend of new threats and opportunities is causing Moscow to take greater risks and embrace more flamboyant policies in Europe. The Kremlin’s relationships with Italy and Austria shine a spotlight on how Europe’s domestic troubles have opened many doors for Moscow. … Europe … has always been too important for the Kremlin to ignore. … the historical benchmark for Moscow’s great power ambitions, a vital market for Russia’s hydrocarbons … a place for Russian elites to park their families and wealth. But Europe is also a persistent and growing source of Russian insecurity. The risk of … NATO …. and the … EU … moving deeper into the post-Soviet space has long been the Kremlin’s geopolitical obsession, and it has triggered Russian actions that have upended international norms and the post-Cold War security order. Moscow also cannot separate Europe from the threat from the United States. In the Kremlin’s overly simplistic view, European security policies are always subordinate to a U.S. hegemon or simply an extension of U.S. power. … The Kremlin’s war in Ukraine shook the West in 2014, triggering sanctions and a sharp rift …. In response, Moscow is meddling more frequently and blatantly in the internal affairs of European states. …”