Diverging opinions on Prigozhin’s abortive coup
June 27th, 2023Commentators draw disparate although not entirely contradictory conclusions from the unprecedented attempt at a military takeover in Russia.
On Index, former Socialist MEP Gyula Hegyi takes the failed ‘March on Moscow’ staged by the 25-thousand-strong Wagner mercenary army as proof that Putin’s only potential alternative at present is someone even more aggressive and radical than him. He concludes that the West should therefore resign itself to negotiate with Putin about the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
By contrast, former Foreign Minister Géza Jeszenszky writes on hvg.hu that as long as Putin is at the helm of the Russian Federation, the world cannot hope to see any change in Russia’s aggressive posture. On the other hand, he continues, for Putin to fall, he must be defeated in Ukraine.
In Népszava, Gábor Horváth denies allegations that the West rooted for the mutiny to succeed. He believes, however, that the events have proven President Putin’s regime much shakier than it had seemed – a fact, he suggests, which should be a warning ‘not only for Russians’.
In Magyar Nemzet, Levente Sitkei suggests that the public watched the botched coup as if it was a video game because people have already become accustomed to the war and are excited by each new development, instead of seeking ways to put an end to the killing.