elections to the european parliament, who will be elected by the europeans at a time when the war continues on the continent for the third year. the kremlin threatens the security of all of europe, and far-right groups are becoming more and more popular. this is the next 15 minutes of the bbc broadcast, jafer umerov works in the studio in london. will the support of ukraine in europe change after the elections to the european parliament, which start tomorrow, june 6, about that a little later, first a few words about the elections themselves. they will run for four days until sunday june 9, but who?

the europeans will fight. every 5 years, citizens of the european union elect their representatives to the european parliament. this is the legislative body of the european union, which will represent the interests of 450 million europeans, and they, in turn, must elect more than 700 meps, and this year it is 720. the number of meps of the country is agreed in advance by the members of the union, based on the principle of proportionality: countries with a larger population have more places. and for example, this year germany will be represented by 96 deputies, italy by 76, for example, latvia - nine. and after the elections, the newly elected deputies must choose their president. this position is held by a politician from malta, roberta metzola. and then the parliament will elect a new leader of the european commission. it is an executive authority. so maybe they'll be looking for a replacement for ursula fondern. in addition, deputies must check and approve everything. in the collegium

of the european commission, that is, the results of these elections directly affect how and in which direction the entire european union will move, and these are the first elections to the european parliament since the full-scale invasion of russia into ukraine, and the issue of the security of the entire continent in the light of new threats has taken the main place in the countries that have common borders with russia, one of them is poland. warsaw is convinced that the threat from moscow is real and imminent, but... there are signs of tension in relations with ukraine - says bbc eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford. along the entire northern border, poland is keeping a watchful eye. and all because kaliningrad is on the other side. russian territory is armed to the teeth. after full-scale russian invasion of ukraine, poland takes the threat from its neighbor very seriously. she constantly warns that putin will not stop there. so here

they decided to spend millions on strengthening their own security. prime minister donald tusk put the threat from russia at the center of the european parliament election campaign. strengthening the polish border, according to him, is a warning to the enemy to stay away. meanwhile, polish schools conduct safety training and learn how to act in case of an emergency. the first lesson - evacuation. training is conducted by soldiers. the teenagers we talked to have no doubts about why they need to know this. we are in danger, i fear that war will come to poland. russia is very close and can attack us. however, being afraid of moscow does not always mean helping kyiv. at least not for

those who spoiled this ukrainian grain on the polish border. strong emotions often run high in polish villages, and not everyone here has a positive attitude towards the eu or kyiv. mariusz started farming at 18, says ukrainian goods flooded the market, thereby displacing local goods and reducing his earnings. it seems that ukraine is currently fighting on two fronts, on the one hand against russia, on the other - against polish farmers. if this continues, we will perish, we have no choice. however, in these elections , the main issue is not the economy, but security. the conclusion is one: living next door to russia is a constant risk, and all of europe must be on guard. and more on the topic of european elections, and how the possible threat of russian aggression will affect the will of eu citizens, we are talking with the director of the central institute.

of european strategy by dmytro tuzhanskyi. i congratulate you, mr. dmytro. after the invasion of ukraine, countries bordering russia are worried. but how will it affect who europeans from eastern europe. of the baltic states will be elected to the european parliament? well , in fact, the russian invasion and the war, the biggest war in europe, it affects everyone, here we cannot say that only on the neighbors, we can see from the rhetoric how intimidation, polarization, intimidation by war, for example, it has an effect in france, and how the right has grown, and this... we will see this actually in the results, i would not expect any catastrophic results from the point of view of some kind of revenge there or an incredible growth of the right, but they will really grow, that is, it is shown by the current ratings that not so much the european people's party, but

the liberals, the social democrats, they, they are losing and gaining precisely these two key groups that unite the european right, these are conservatives and reformists and the group of identity and democracy. they are not twice gained compared to the past, but they are gaining, let's see what the final result will be, because a lot of political forces are making a big bet precisely on the mobilization of voters, that is, one thing is the opinion poll for which you will vote, but there can be a significant correlation, i say the difference between those who will come to the polling station in june and will vote, and that's why we see, just in the last month, the rhetoric is so, you know, intensifying, both from such a, i don't know, pro-western side, and from such a pro-russian side, well, how big

the probability that deputies will be elected to the parliament who will not support ukraine at the level at which the eu, for example, supports ukraine now, i do not see any point. threats in fact, but, if ukraine is a factor, and we see, for example, how the rhetoric of marie le pen changes, and it becomes, well, much less pro-russian, and more pro-ukrainian, which is strange, and this is exactly what we have seen in the last year and a half months, we see how this indicator of the position in ukraine determines the obvious. the future of viktor orbán, which group he will join, that is, for him an entrance ticket to the group of conservatives and reformists, it is precisely not to block ukraine, neither the opening of negotiations, nor 50 billion, nor obviously the negotiating framework, the big question

will be exactly who will be the next president of the european commission, this is another such internal debate both within the right, and actually and pip is popular. the party with certain groups of the right and inside and so, because we remember how the candidate speaks from the people's party, mr. weber, he actually lost this support, and ms. ursula was chosen as the new candidate, and this, you know, this experience now, well, some forces are playing the same scenario already against ms. ursula. thank you, dmitry, please stay in touch. than to continue the conversation, because i want to touch on the topic: support for the far-right in europe, and looking at it, they expect that the far-right parties, which even before the elections to the european parliament were leading according to the rating polls in france, austria and other european countries, can achieve

great success in these elections, thus can get more seats in the eu parliament and influence the general policy of the union. surveys show that... for example, the right-wing party brothers of italy is leading in italy, the country's prime minister george moloney, who in the early 90s began her political career in the youth wing of the neo-fascist party italian social movement, and now, although molonia has distanced her party from the far-right, her critics are sure that she has not renounced her past, continued bbc correspondent mark lowan. this footage was taken from milan. in 2024, but they remind of completely different times, this is a rally in memory of a far-right student, who was killed almost half a century ago by the extreme left, although the violence between the two sides has stopped, but in italy , the homeland of fascism, the symbols

and slogans of supporters of this radical ideology continue to live. this may seem unusual, but not in italy. similar events have been taking place in the country for years. demonstrations with fascist slogans and some images related to the dark pages of italy's past still appear in its modernity, yet no italian government. did not struggle with it, george maloney is the least inclined to do so. she has her career started in a group of neo-fascist youth. at that time, she called the wartime dictator benito muscellini a skillful politician. now she has distanced her party from the extreme right and is preparing to achieve high results in the elections to the european parliament, because she has become a kind of model for other affairs of the continent. but her critics are sure that she has not forgotten her political roots. journalist paolo berici has been under guard for the past 5 years due to threats from neo-fascists. far-right

and neo-fascist groups felt the support of the maloney government, because the chants and debates that for years remained on the sidelines of politics, suddenly became permitted. jojo maloney doesn't identify as anti-fascist, and when a person can't do that in a republic founded on anti-fascism, that's a sign they're in trouble. thus, italy's past resonates with its present, and the line between honoring history and glorifying crime is blurring, and what was once considered extreme has now become commonplace. see the complete reports of our correspondent in italy on our youtube channel. and we return to the conversation with the host of the broadcast dmytro tuzhanskyi, at the beginning of our conversation you mentioned the change in the rhetoric of some extreme politicians from the extreme. but how can one explain the increase in the popularity of the extreme right in

different eu countries? russian aggression and invasion of ukraine, polarization of societies and these so-called culture wars, and in general this effect of populism, how the political struggle is going, political rhetoric, and the third - of course , these are such global crises as the migration crisis, the pandemic, etc. .. isolates certain groups societies, they are polarized, repeatedly, by these three aspects and determine exactly the growth of right-wing parties on the european continent, an obvious connection, for example, between the way the election campaign was conducted in the netherlands, in the kingdom of the netherlands last fall, and how it actually ended, with what results, how is it not something that coincided, how the elections in the kingdom... was influenced by the conflict between israel and hamas, and so

on the european parliament, well, a lot far-right groups in europe, they are not really supporters of supporting ukraine, and hungary , on the contrary, is the biggest supporter of russia in the eu, so what is the picture in hungary now? in hungary? a black swan has appeared, this is the so-called, well, not so-called, this is peter magyar, this is a person whom i do not know, no one knew there in february, march, and now he is such a young leader who gathers thousands of people around the country , his rating of the party he led, acquired, it was done quite quickly, there are 20, over 20%, let's see what his result will be, but he actually says what... viktor orban says only there with some, let's say, nuances, that is, he is also right, and

again, hungary is polarized, this is clearly visible from opinion polls, this is clearly visible from such a topic as support for ukraine and what kind of support, we see how hungary is divided, and to be honest, given the rhetoric that has been operating and working in hungary for the last two years after, after the beginning of the russian invasion, we have become even more optimistic, there 16-17% of hungarians still well, they support the provision of military aid to ukraine, that's it unprecedented, when you hear peace, peace, peace, peace, peace from every iron in hungary, and ukraine is said to be associated with war, so hungary is an interesting country from the point of view of the result, let's see how this black swan works, and again, it's interesting to observe, there is not enough to be done. time to talk more, thank you, director of the institute of central european strategy, dmytro tuzhanskyi, and that's all for today, and we will be

on the air again tomorrow at 9 o'clock, take care. greetings, friends, live on the tv channel, the second part part of the verdict program, and in this issue we will talk about such. a double date in europe. volodymyr zelenskyi and joseph. biden will hold talks twice in the coming week. should we expect changes in the american policy of supporting ukraine? government under martial law. most ukrainians believe that during the 5 years of zelenskyi's presidency , the situation with democracy in ukraine has worsened. is ukraine in danger of slipping into authoritarianism?

internal enemies of ukraine. you are the sbu. another pro-russian network that worked at the base churches of the uoc of the moscow patriarchate. what prevents the authorities from destroying the centers of anti-ukrainian forces? friends, we are working live on the tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms, for those who are currently watching us live there. please subscribe to our pages, like this video, and also take part in our voting. today we ask you about this, and ukraine is threatened by authoritarianism, yes, no, if you have an answer beyond the boundaries of an unambiguous answer, please write your comment under this video, and also, of course, subscribe to our youtube channel, if you watch us on tv, take an expensive smartphone or phone and vote if you think that ukraine is threatened by

authoritarianism 0.800 211 381, no 0800 211-382, all calls. these numbers are free, vote, at the end of the program we will sum up the results of this vote. today we have two political experts, people, people who know very well how ukrainian politics works, and people who have been analyzing the actions of politicians and political parties, the actions of political parties for quite a long time. parties oleksiy koshel, doctor of historical sciences, political scientist, head of the committee of voters of ukraine. mr. oleksiy, i congratulate you and thank you for being with us today. good evening. vitaly kulyk, director of the center for researching civil society problems. mr. vitaly, i congratulate you and thank you for joining our broadcast. mr. vitaly, can you hear us? i can hear it here.

we can see you, but it is clear that we have some problems, probably with the internet. so, gentlemen, since we are asking our tv viewers about whether ukraine is in danger authoritarianism, i will ask you this question in the format of a blitz survey, we will start with oleksiy koshel, mr. oleksiy. er, i am not inclined to believe that ukraine is threatened by authoritarianism. still, first of all, there are constant trends in ukraine, including opposition to the authorities, when there is at least the slightest threat. on the other hand, in ukraine. there, unlike our northeastern neighbors, there is a fairly powerful opposition, there is a free media, there are public organizations, there are real political forces, this is a certain deterrent factor that is quite serious, but now i see quite serious risks in to another, the risks of losing reputation, that is, this is not the first time that our western partners

have pointed out a number of problems to us, but we literally saw... a few weeks ago extremely serious statements by the ambassador of the united states to ukraine, who emphasized that one of key tasks for today are anti-corruption reforms, corruption is a threat. the us secretary of state said roughly the same thing in a milder form during his last visit to ukraine. but we have also had a number of statements in recent months regarding the curtailment of freedom of speech. it's clear to us pointed out these problems. now chastkov. sociological surveys also indicate these trends, well, they can be interpreted in different ways, but in spite of everything, they indicate that there is a problem, that is, i think that there is no direct threat to us, but the risk of reputational blows to ukraine, well, again the consequence, the consequence is the attitude towards ukraine, the consequence is the support for ukraine, including financial,

including military support. thank you, mr. oleksiy, mr. vitaly, do you see the threats of authoritarianism for ukraine? well, first of all, me i see the possibility of certain elementalism. in ukraine, only weak authoritarianism is possible. i don't know if they hear me. yes, and would you please explain weak authoritarianism and strong authoritarianism, what is the difference? strong authoritarianism - when the initial impulse reaches the consumer, the population, so to speak, when any decisions are implemented, there is a repressive apparatus, there is an opportunity to get every citizen. to force him to carry out certain arbitrary decisions, this arbitrariness is felt everywhere and in everything, weak authoritarianism, he is just corroded

this is the rust of corruption, there are loopholes that allow people not to carry out orders, to sabotage decisions, and the authorities, having administrative resources and power resources in their hands, are not able to force them to fully fulfill their whims or get an un... necessary result, on the contrary, passive or active resistance is obtained . any attempts we have to carry out authoritarian modernization, or to concentrate power in one hand, any manifestations of such complete authoritarianism have ended in rebellion. therefore, from my point of view, any effort now, to impose some authoritarian model, it will not be implemented and it will be rejected by society and it is not. but there is a temptation, our government is constantly falling for this temptation, which

thinks that simple answers and power resources are the only mechanisms that will be able to achieve the desired goals that they set before themselves, well, actually, why are we asking and why are we conducting such a thing today survey, there is fresh sociology from the kyiv international institute of sociology, it shows that 43% of ukrainians believe that in 5 years during zelenskyi's presidency , the situation with democracy in ukraine has worsened, 28% of them are convinced that this happened because of the government's efforts to curtail the rights and freedoms of citizens, this is what these survey results show, and at the same time, 19% of ukrainians believe that the situation with democracy has improved, and 20... 9%, which has not changed, mr. oleksiy, or you, which category of ukrainians do you belong to, do you think that

the situation with democracy has worsened during the 5 years of zelenskyi's presidency, or is there still a situation that can be it can be characterized that she has improved, or has not changed, well, there are certain obvious things that we have reason to talk about. that is, this is the issue of freedom of speech, which is already openly discussed, this is the issue of limiting the broadcasting of three tv channels, including sprsu tv, this is the issue of selective treatment of people's deputies, let's say, special attention to representatives of the opposition, this is not travel abroad, this is blocking opposition draft laws, these are many other things, but despite all this, the data of the kms must still be interpreted... considered and analyzed in view of the war, in view of the legal regime martial law, and the question is what people put in, say, answering

the question of whether authoritative, authoritative trends have intensified, that is, someone comes out with videos that are clogged with the internet today, there about the incorrect, to put it mildly, methods of work of territorial assembly centers , here we still need to talk about... the fact that russia is involved in this and extremely seriously, that is, we have one or two videos a week, and a package of pro-russian internet media inflates these stories, makes them artificial sensations and much more, that is, the question is how to interpret these numbers, but so far we see a really extremely large indicator, which indicates that the problems with democracy in our country will worsen, but i am inclined to ... that a certain percentage of these respondents, they all- they proceed from the fact that the rights and freedoms of citizens are limited under the conditions of the legal regime of martial law, that

is, the situation is not as alarming, in my opinion, as the sociological figures show. mr. vitaly, what do you think, what do you think, what adds to the anxiety, as mr. oleksiy says, ukrainians, are they saying that the situation with democracy has worsened in 5 years? mr. vitaly, can you hear us? i hear, i hear. what adds to the anxiety of ukrainians, which mr. oleksiy is talking about, in the understanding that the situation with democracy has worsened during the 5 years of zelensky's presidency. apparently we have some you can hear us, so very bad with interruptions. if, if, if you can hear me,

briefly about anxiety, from my point of view , the main problem that arises is the problem of challenging injustices, unjust decisions, or such, or the excessive use of force, the tsc themselves, and the inability to complain about the illegal decisions of the tsc, that is, the lack of justice, the lack of justice, causes a great deficit and trust in the authorities as a whole. that's why i don't think, i don't think that democracy exists in our country, it actually exists, these are problems related to dignity, justice and trust in states and institutions, and the government does nothing, it's not solved by communication, clarification activity, it is not solved by the rhetoric of propaganda, unfortunately, the state simply illustrates brutal treatment of citizens in some

cases, unwillingness to interact. and correcting their mistakes and uses deception and manipulation as a form of coercion, and this is a big problem, which will then return to us with an increase in distrust of the state institution and the withdrawal of citizens into the so-called deep people, a refusal in general to any interaction with the state and digital and other services that represent even social services. thank you, mr. vitaly. one more, one more numbers and one sociology from kmis, is that 50% of ukrainians are convinced that president zelenskyi did not fulfill any or a minority of his pre-election promises, and 18 respondents, percent of respondents answered that zelensky fulfilled most or all of the promises, almost as many believe that he fulfilled about half of the promises, the most respondents are 50%. explain

the non-fulfillment of promises by the presence of dishonest corrupt people in the president's team, then with approximately the same result of 26 - 32% there are such explanations as the lack of competent people in his team, a full-scale invasion, his own inexperience, influence oligarchs, fewer respondents talked about personal corruption, the influence of other states, shaking the situation of the opposition, unrealistic promises, etc., mr. oleksiy, how do you evaluate this sociology as well as certain intermediate figures in the five-year term of the president, because the term continues, and zelenskyi says about the fact that my 5 years have not yet passed, that he was and remains the president, what this sociology testifies to, you know, it is difficult for me to give

an assessment, but actually what did people have when they answered the this is a question for me for example, it is very difficult to give an answer, because i remember the election program of volodymyr zelenskyi, it was a beautiful fairy tale called the country of dreams, where there were many things that were actually impossible to fulfill, that is, he talked about the fact that i dream that in poland happy announcement, i am looking for a job in ukraine. this was such a beautiful story that was sold to ukrainian voters. and there were actually very few specifics. that is, there were no promises on specific reforms, no promises on anti-corruption steps, no promises on clear programs that really to carry out for five years, it was an extremely blurred program, and well, i don't remember any presidential campaign where the election program was taken lightly, because the program is not just, not just an election product of political technologists.

product, this is an action plan, this is a 5 -year action strategy, which actually did not exist, and therefore, in fact, it is difficult to say here what the voters have in mind, because someone evaluates based on extremely simple steps, there the whole state is in a smartphone, so with "the program of action appeared, the program of action, where quite a lot of issues can be solved, but on the other hand, well, you know, this is an absolutely trivial thing compared to the tasks that... which a candidate for the position of the head of state for a five-year term should set before himself, on the one hand, on the other hand, it is extremely important that the government listens to criticism and listens to the opinion of citizens, and this is an extremely important number, it is one of the two key indicators that indicate that people see the weakness of the team, the incompetence of the team, the lack of...