You knew it had to be coming around the corner: When Ukraine loses to Putin, dangerous and presently suppressed political leaders around the world will pop up as “Putin look-alikes.” This warning came from Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, in today’s Bloomberg.” In an article entitled “EU May See Putin Lookalikes,” Bloomberg reports Ciolacu’s analysis.
He noted that the recent elections in Poland (Oct. 15) and Slovakia (Sept. 30), in which populists soft on Russia were the winners, are a harbinger of worse to come. However, he swore to hold the line that Romania won’t let up on its “multi-dimensional support” for Kiev, despite losing ground politically. “These political costs are less important than the precedent a Russian victory would create.” Otherwise, there could be what he called, a surging popular support for right-wing and populist parties across the continent. “Can you imag[ine] how many Putin lookalikes we would get among certain populist European politicians?”
