Momentum’s anti-Putin protest
September 1st, 2017A centrist commentator thinks that increasingly hysterical anti-Russian rhetoric by left-wing and liberal parties will further alienate moderate voters.
Addressing a demonstration to protest against President Putin’s visit to Budapest (see BudaPost August 30), Momentum leader András Fekete-Győr called Vladimir Putin ‘the most cruel dictator of the world’, and added that he would not meet President Putin until Russian troops are withdrawn from Ukraine.
Magyar Nemzet’s Albert Gazda warns that the increasingly hysterical anti-Putin and anti-Russian rhetoric practiced by left-wing liberals will prove counterproductive. The moderate columnist acknowledges that there is a lot to criticize in President Putin’s regime, but he finds Momentum’s statements absurd. Gazda recalls that Momentum has promised to overcome the increasingly sectarian and ideological propaganda which dominates public discourse in order to unite the country. By now however, he writes, it has exchanged reasonable discourse for hate-speech and fear-mongering. In conclusion, Gazda believes the vilification of President Putin and Russia can hardly help boost Momentum’s popularity – on the contrary, it may alienate their moderate sympathizers who look for balanced and reasonable voices.