The Kremlin has Trojan Horses All Around

President Putin is the world’s master of Trojan horses. According to the Western press he can handle them all over the globe, whether it is the White House or the Turkish military industry.

The Trojan horse, one of the myths and symbols handed down to us from antiquity, has always had a political application, also at present. Recently, this term has been frequently used by the Polish opinion-forming political news outlets in reference to a number of countries. Gazeta Wyborcza poses the question whether Turkey is Russia’s Trojan horse within the NATO.¹⁾Turcja – rosyjski koń trojański w NATO? Czy kraj ten powinien nadal pozostawać członkiem Sojuszu Północnoatlantyckiego?, wyborcza.pl 2017-07-17.The question seems to be well-grounded especially when we think of the rapprochement between Ankara and Moscow and the purchase by the former of the Russian anti-missile defence system S-400.

The na:Temat portal ran a text entitled “Bulgaria: the Trojan horse of the European Union?” in which among others it informed the readership that 49% Bulgarians did not approve of the sanctions imposed against Russia by the UE.²⁾Bułgaria: Koń trojański Rosji w Unii Europejskiej?, na:Temat 2014-04-22.

In the wPolityce.pl portal, one could read “Greece – Russia’s Trojan horse in the NATO? Apart from economic, the European Union may be facing political and military problems…” ³⁾Grecja – koń trojański Rosji w NATO? Do kłopotów ekonomicznych Unii Europejskiej mogą dojść też polityczne i wojskowe…, wPolityce.pl 2015-07-16.The text was occasioned by the enlargement of the Russian secret service contingent in Greece. tvn24 reported on “Cyprus, the Kremlin’s Trojan horse?” and continued to say, “The country’s president is having three-day talks in Russia”.⁴⁾Cypr jak”koń trojański” Kremla? Prezydent jedzie do Rosji aż na trzy dni, tvn24 2015-02-24.This EU member state intends to cooperate with Moscow on trade, energy, tourism, agriculture, financial services and… defence. TVN 24 speculates that even Russian military bases on Cyprus may one of these days become reality.

After in 2015 Hungary had concluded with Russia an agreement on natural gas supply, Rzeczpospolita wrote, “Victor Orban, Putin’s Trojan horse.”⁵⁾Wiktor Orban, trojański koń Putina, rp.pl 2016-02-17.In January 2017 Fronda.pl ran a text “Is Donald Trump Russia’s Trojan horse?”⁶⁾Czy Donald Trump to ‘koń trojański’ Rosji?, Fronda.pl 2017-01-16.The speculated on the likelihood whether Donald Trump in his capacity of the new US president would lift the sanction against Russia. (They did not know at that time that the US President will not deliver on his election promises regarding Russo-American relations.)

Sure, the media tend to exaggerate things, not only in Poland. Still, the reader expects fair and realistic estimates, and restraint in reporting. Russia, no doubt, is pursuing an effective policy around the globe, but does it really have so many Trojan horses here and there? What would Victor Orban or Donald Trump, patriots of Hungary and the United States say, if they were told they were Moscow’s Trojan horses?