2y ago

Poland is concerned by pro-Putin slogans at farmers' protests, saying Russian agents may be to blame

Polish authorities voiced grave concerns Wednesday after slogans praising Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war against Ukraine appeared at Polish farmers’ protests.

The Foreign Ministry said it believed that extreme groups were trying to take over the farmers’ protest movement “perhaps under the influence of Russian agents.”

On Tuesday, one tractor at a protest in the southern region of Silesia carried a Soviet flag and a banner that said: "“Putin, put things in order with Ukraine, Brussels, and our rulers.”

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski called the banner “scandalous,” and said that it was immediately secured by police, and that prosecutors were also investigating.

18 comments

This right after Putin blamed Poland for WW2?
Not a coincidence.
- Wait what?
  *"Putin said the Poles forced Hitler to attack them in 1939."
  "Hitler just wanted to 'realize his plans' and Poland was 'uncooperative' and 'forced' Hitler to attack and start World War II, Putin said.
  Lololol
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/poland-angrily-responds-putins-claims-about-hitler-world-war-ii-1868707
  In the Tucker Carlson interview Putin said Poland caused WW2 by not giving territory to Hitler.
  
  Hitler just needed to denazify Poland.
  
  The biggest joke about this delusional history lesson is that Putin basically compared himself to Hitler.
You know the really insidious thing about this virulent infection of propaganda? You have to be skeptical to defend against it, but even by making people skeptical Putin benefits. For example, when I saw this thread I thought to myself "maybe Poland is claiming the farmers' movement is being subverted by Russia in order to discredit it," and I had to deliberately decide to dismiss that possibility
So basically, you end up with everybody splintering into a bunch of groups:
Some people believe the propaganda and become useful idiots for Russia.
Some people believe Poland's warning and thus lose trust in their fellow citizens.
Some people distrust Poland's warning and thus lose trust in their government.
Some people go into a Vizzini-esque spiral second-guessing everything.
And in every case, Poland's ability to present a united front against Russia's aggression is diminished.
- Pretty sure I saw someone's comment earlier saying one 'Polish' farmer-protestor was on a list of Russian agents.
"Russian agents" or just regular 'ol stupid people living in Poland?
Based on some polling about 20% of the Russians living in Finland are pro-Putin, and I'd assume the percentages are at least in the same direction in Poland too. Nonzero numbers of Finns also support Putin
- What’s the MAGA equivalent for Putin?
  
  Make Russia Czarist again.
  
  Hmm good question. I'm not too clued in to the nitty gritty of Russian politics because my Russian skills are nonexistent so I mainly just read translated materials. The most detailed I can get is that I know that the "anti-MAGA" folks have a tendency of calling Putin's party United Russia the "party of crooks and thieves" but that's about it. I feel like they have to have some sort of slogan
this is how it started in ukraine isnt it?
You'd think being so close to that monster would make them much wearier, but if they want to be Russian so badly, they should go live in Russia - they need more meat for the Ukraine-shaped grinder anyways
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Foreign Ministry said it believed that extreme groups were trying to take over the farmers’ protest movement “perhaps under the influence of Russian agents.”
On Tuesday, one tractor at a protest in the southern region of Silesia carried a Soviet flag and a banner that said: "“Putin, put things in order with Ukraine, Brussels, and our rulers.”
Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski called the banner “scandalous,” and said that it was immediately secured by police, and that prosecutors were also investigating.
Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union located along Ukraine’s western border, has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, accepting unlimited numbers of refugees and providing Ukraine with weaponry.
But tensions have been growing as Polish farmers blame imports of Ukrainian grain and other food for pushing down prices.
The ministry called on the protest organizers “to identify and eliminate from their movement” the handful of initiators, arguing that it was necessary for the country’s interest.
The original article contains 365 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 54%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

18 comments