The damage that Putin makes to Vox | Opinion

Vox's closeness To Vladimir Putin's allies It has become a ballast for Santiago Abascal. The ultra -right had been capitalizing political discomfort in Spain Without generating much noise until the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine arrived: the formation was highly criticized for appearing ambiguous, unlike years ago. And nothing could be more harmful to a party that is sold as a Spanish nationalist than to sow doubts about which interests he answers. Alberto Núñez Feijóo rubs his hands in his struggle with Vox. After all, the Spanish ultra -right has changed a lot since It became part of the patriots group in Europe, Integrated by the Hungarian Viktor Orbán – Cerno to Putin – and by Marine Le Pen – who the Kremlin publicly supported the French legislative elections of 2024—, among others. Suddenly, Abascal broke with the group of Giorgia Meloni, proatlantist and proucrania, which he had belonged until then, generating a strong suspicion in the EU. While the Italian leader was looking for the collusion of the community block to carry out her migratory plans, Vox chose to break the regional governments with the PP. Such is the distrust of the intentions of patriots, That a sanitary cordon is applied in Europe to prevent positions of power, something that does not happen with brothers from Italy. In short, in the eyes of Brussels there is a possibilist ultra -right with which to reach some understanding and another of which it is suspected that only seeks to destabilize the union.

So the halo of doubt about which interests Vox responds only to grow. Time will tell if you have electoral translation or not. To date, the return to anti -system positions, without government responsibility, has procured Abascal a rebound in surveys: formation It has been growing as a refuge from the protest vote, The feeling that if the PP ruled would maintain many of Pedro Sánchez's policies – their detractors of the ultra -right call the leader of the « Blue PSOE » -, Or even, thanks to the community networks that many young people organize outside their leaders.

However, the feeling that this Vox is only to generate chaos has become a double -edged sword on the right. The impression in Madrid's mentisers has been extended that if ever PP and Vox add enough to govern, Abascal would bet on staying out of the Executive to continue its destabilization strategy: that is, the same line that patriots continues in Europe, but applied to our country. And far from promoting the illusion between its ranks, the idea of ​​an ungovernable scenario and an expectant left for recovering power could cause unease.

Precisely, the PP does not live apart from the turn that Abascal has given. Centrode right speakers have been immersed in a kind of Operation Domesticate Vox: They have returned to the arena to outstanding personalities of the old party, such as Macarena Olona or Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, who have made insistent calls for understanding between both formations. It does not seem accidental that nostalgia of that subaltern vox of the PP, useful to increase the power of Genoa 13, either in autonomies and municipalities, as happened throughout 2023, Before breaking those regional executives. Interestingly, that was also a vox docile, prior to changing international allies. Such is the power that is reaching the ultra -right in the surveys that have even arisen speculations about whether another party could appear that laminated the growth of abascal formation as a way to limit its negotiation monopoly with the PP. Now, Espinosa de los Monteros is formed at the moment with founding a study center while showing his sympathies for Meloni, whom to the official right would like to resemble Vox.

Consequently, the doubt is whether the proximity of our ultra -right with Putin's allies will really harm him. It has been assumed so far that the figure of a strong man who projects the Russian leader was attractive to his voters. For its part, the PP itself – Vía Fundación Faes— He has criticized his alignment with Donald Trump, Given the intention of the Republican President to impose more tariffs on Europe. However, few voices have highlighted the ideological implications that Vox approaches leaders such as Orbán. The Spanish right has been historically more atlantist-in its liberal aspect-than close to post-Soviet space. For many young people, in these times of polarization Putin is still a former member of the KGB, however nationalist, conservative and imperialist that results.

In summary, the most harmful to Vox onwards is suspicion about its real intentions in Spanish, domestic and foreign politics. Podemos will be relieved to maintain equidistance between NATO and Russia because a certain left drink of that tradition; In the case of Abascal, there is a paradigm shift, which, although mediatically disturbing, is yet to be defined at the polls.