Slippery Surfaces

And poking the bear where it hurts

Native Cpeaker continues catching up on Ukraine-related illustrations from the last few months.

Unreliable Footing, ©2024 William L. Brown. Summer 2024 elections in France, England, and the EU, and the upcoming US elections, put Ukraine’s future at stake. There were strong European candidates and parties opposed to Ukraine support. In the US, a bad debate performance by President Biden and an assassination attempt against Republican candidate Donald Trump put Trump in the opinion-poll lead.

In Europe and the UK, pro-Ukrainians preserved a majority, but anti-Ukrainian nationalist parties made significant gains. In the UK, the Labor Party unseated the Conservative Party, but says Ukraine support will remain strong. In France, moderate-conservative President Macron was only able to hold onto power by forming an alliance with the left. Right wing parties in the EU Parliament made significant gains, but not nearly enough to form a majority.

In the US, ex-president and current candidate Donald Trump says he has a peace plan, but won’t reveal it. Clues imply that his peace plan is to cease aiding Ukraine, forcing them to negotiate with Russia. That would align with the stance of his vice-presidential pick and his hard-right followers, especially the America First contingent.

President Biden retired from the presidential race, his vice president Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party candidate instead. Opinion polls now show a close race. Ukraine’s footing is still unreliable.

Tilting the Vote, ©2024 William L. Brown. The European Union Parliment tilted to the right. Right wing parties and coalitions made gains in the EU June 6-9, 2024 elections. There are a number of accusations and investigations into Russian influence . Russia seeks to create chaos and to disrupt western unity. They support Euro-sketptic political movements, nationalists and anti-immigration groups. They create waves of immigrants - refugees from Russia’s wars - and benefit from the destabilizing effect.

Conscription, ©2024 William L. Brown. “Recruitment” officers roam the streets in Ukraine, demanding to see the papers of “military age” civilian men, and sometimes conscripting them on the spot. Some men have not left their houses for weeks. They are not unpatriotic, but they are reluctant to give up their lives. They hear the rumors that military training is minimal, and life expectancy of new conscripts is short. In addition, there is no term-limit on service, no demobilization dates have been set. Many who signed up at the beginning of the war are still in uniform because they cannot be discharged.

Peacenik, ©2024 William L. Brown. In June, 2024 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky convened an international peace summit in Switzerland. The goal was to garner support from many countries for Zelensky’s ten-point peace program. Ukraine hoped to use that support to pressure Russia to negotiate. 93 countries participated. Russia proposed a plan the day prior to the meeting. Zelensky rejected that proposal, "These messages are ultimatum messages. It's the same thing Hitler did, when he said 'give me a part of Czechoslovakia and it'll end here'."

Macron’s Gamble, ©2024 William L. Brown. French president Emmanuel Macron’s party suffered a big loss in elections for French representatives to the EU legislature. The hard-right National Rally party won twice as many seats than Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party. The result undermined the legitimacy of his ruling coalition in the French legislature. Taking a huge chance that his coalition could end up a minority, and the anti-immigration, anti-NATO, EU-skeptic right-wing populists could end up ruling France, he called for a “snap election.” Fortunately for Macron, France’s left and centrist parties quickly rallied. set aside their rivalries and devised an election strategy that led to a victory, though the NR made significant gains.

War on Baptists, ©2024 William L. Brown. The Kremlin says Ukraine bans and oppresses the Orthodox church. Actually, Ukraine’s Orthodox Church is just fine. The only church or religion unwelcome in Ukraine is the Russian Orthodox Church because it was being used by the Russian government to spy on and undermine Ukraine.

The Russians are the ones banning and destroying churches, and killing and torturing clergy. The Russians assume that, as their own Russian Orthodox Church is an arm of the government, so the Baptist church must be an arm of the American government. Never mind that Baptists have been in Ukraine for about a hundred years. Baptists have been singled out in occupied territories. This information was critical in convincing conservative US Congress-members to vote for Ukraine aid.

Orbanman, ©2024 William L. Brown. Pro-Putin Viktor Orban, president of Hungary became EU President for a six-month term beginning July 1. The position doesn’t come with much power, but Orban immediately embarked on a “peace mission” to Ukraine, Russia and China, earning Orban rebukes from the rest of the EU, which proclaimed it to be a rogue operation.

By the way, Orban’s slogan for his EU prsidency is “Make Europe Great Again”

Surprise attack, ©2024 William L. Brown. In early August, Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast was a welcome tonic to the discouraging news from the eastern battlefront. The invasion and seizure of Russian territory was historic, Russia’s reaction was bumbling and humbling.

We are almost caught up with illustrations. Soon I will resume reporting on how my Ukraine friends and students are doing. And I’ll have a quick account of the most recent Ukraine Action Summit, advocating for Ukraine aid on Capitol Hill.