World View: Russia's Vladimir Putin Courts European Far Right, Ultranationals

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• France’s Ségolène Royal gets revenge over Hollande’s last girlfriend
• Russia’s Vladimir Putin courts European far right and ultranationals
• United Nations: Violence escalates in Central African Republic
• Ebola outbreak spreads to Conarky Guinea, causing panic in West Africa

France’s Ségolène Royal gets revenge over Hollande’s last girlfriend

After last Sunday’s election, when François Hollande’s Socialist Partydid very poorly, Hollande has been forced to reshuffle his cabinet.And now he’s appointed Ségolène Royal to the cabinet, to be the FrenchMinister of the Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.

Royal was Hollande’s girlfriend for 30 years, and mother of his fourchildren, but they broke up in 2007, when Hollande took up with a newgirlfriend, Valérie Trierweiler. Royal and Trierweiler obviouslydidn’t get along, and had open spats in the last year. But Hollande’srelationship with Trierweiler ended dramatically in January, whenreporters from a magazine called Closer published 7 pages ofphotographs of Hollande’s late night trysts with a young actress,Julie Gayet. So now, with Trierweiler out of the picture, Royal isback in Hollande’s life in a big way. However, spokesmen fromHollande’s administration deny his past relationships with Trierweileror Royal have anything to do with Royal’s appointment, which is basedsolely and purely and exclusively on her professional qualifications.

Meanwhile, Julie Gayet has done quite well for herself. She suedCloser magazine for breach of privacy, and the court has just awardedher 15,000 euros. AP and Euro News

Russia’s Vladimir Putin courts European far right and ultranationals

One of the ironies of the Ukraine crisis is that, on the one hand,Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is referring to Kiev’s government aspoliticians with views that range from center-right to far right toultranational to fascist. (The phrase “far right” has a differentmeaning in Europe and America.) However, in most cases, what unitesthese far right European politicians is less that they love Putin andRussia and more that they despise the European Union.

The supporters of Hungary’s Jobbik party call it patriotic andChristian, while its opponents call it everything from anti-Semitic tofascist. According to spokesman Marton Gyongyosi, “We have aninterest in seeing a growing Russia that has in a very interestingway defended its own interests, and which has basically created somecounter weight to the west.” According to Gyongyosi, Russia isfighting for the rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine, including theHungarian minority of the Lower Carpathians. He says that the EU doesnot ensure minority rights, as ethnic Hungarians suffer a majordeprivation in Slovakia and Romania alike.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s Front Nationale party, which didvery well in last Sunday’s nationwide municipal elections, was quotedquoted favorably on Voice of Russia radio as supporting Russia’srights in Crimea. At a meeting in Moscow in January, Le Pen arguedthat “France is not a democracy” and praised Putin for saving Basharal-Assad in Syria. Her colleague, Frederick Chatillon, accusesSyria’s misfortunes on a “Zionist lobby.” And in Britain, the UKIPleader Nigel Farage has spoken admiringly of Putin in recent days,though not directly in relation to Ukraine.

In view of all this, Moscow’s denunciation of Ukraine’s right-wingmovements, Svoboda and Pravyi Sektor, is all the more interesting.jobbik.com and Jamestown and Al Jazeera and Voice of Russia (trans) and ImRussia (trans)

United Nations: Violence escalates in Central African Republic

The violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) is increasing, andis moving in a new direction, according to the United Nations. Thereare increased tensions and clashes between the (Christian) anti-Balakamilitias versus the (Muslim) Chadian soldiers in the African Unionpeacekeeping force (MISCA). On Saturday, 24 people were killed and100 injured when Chadian forces fired indiscriminately into a crowd.On Monday, an anti-Balaka element threw a grenade at Chadian soldiers,before being killed by French troops.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, CAR is headed for amassive, genocidal generational crisis war, which will be just asbloody as the generational crisis war that occurred in Rwanda in 1994.It’s becoming increasingly evident that this war will go beyond acivil war between Muslims and Christians in CAR, and will end upinvolving both French and MISCA peacekeeping forces as activeparticipants in the war. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon iscalling for a 12,000 soldier U.N peacekeeping force, but from thepoint of view of Generational Dynamics, this will have little effectin a population of 4.5 million, with the number of displaced peoplecurrently at 650,000 and increasing. UN OHCHR

Ebola outbreak spreads to Conarky Guinea, causing panic in West Africa

Officials had originally hoped to confine the Ebola virus outbreak toa couple of small villages in southern Guinea, but it’s continued tospread and has now invaded Conarky, the capital of Guinea. Conarkyhas a population of almost 2 million people, mostly crammed togetherin slums, so is the perfect breeding ground for the deadly virus.Panic is spreading throughout Guinea and north to the large Guineanpopulation in Senegal, which has shut down its normally open borderwith Guinea. Ebola is extremely deadly and contagious, but passesfrom person to person only through bodily contact, so it’s hoped thatit can be stopped by encouraging people to use proper sanitationmeasures. USA Today

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