What Happens to Putin’s Western Admirers?

The Russian dictator always had fans within radical parties in Europe and the US. Now some of them are trying to distance themselves.

• Vladimir Putin has been supported by populist parties in the West for a long time. Radicals on the far-right as well as on the far-left admired the Russian autocrat for his anti-liberal attitude.
• In some cases a partnership with Russia even had an economic background. Marine Le Pen’s far-right party in France was once bailed out by Russian banks.
• After the shock of Putin’s Ukraine invasion reached the European party landscape many of his former supporters turned their back on him. The Russian issue has become toxic.
• Italy’s hardliner Matteo Salvini has even tried to reinvent himself as a supporter of Ukrainian refugees. This came as a particular surprise as the politician is known for his anti-immigrant stance.
• Even as political parties try to distance themselves from the warmongering Putin, the Russian leader still has supporters in the West: in the US, Fox News host Tucker Carlson is taking the lead here.
• Russia has cultivated an atmosphere of misinformation and unfounded conspiracy theories that is attractive for radical movements on both sides of the Atlantic.