In today's #vatnik soup I'll introduce an Irish politician and a MEP from (South) Ireland: Mick Wallace. He aligns himself strongly with another Irish MEP, Clare Daly, and his love for both Russia and China has been evident in his recent comments and appearances.
1/13
His political career started at the Irish 2011 general election, and he was elected as an MEP in the 2019 European Parliament election. Wallace falls to the general category of "anti-imperialists", basically meaning anti-US and NATO.
2/13
Wallace's views also line up perfectly with folk from the fake news blog The Grayzone: he's supported Venezuela, China, Russia, Belarus and Syria during his period as an MEP.
So if there's an authoritarian regime somewhere, it probably has Mick's support!
3/13
He's called the Belarusian presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya a "pawn of Western neoliberalism", and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as an "unelected gobshite".
In 2021, he visited the HQ of "Popular Mobilization Forces" an Iraqi militia supported by Iran.4/13
He also blamed the Syrian volunteer organization "White Helmets" - who have revealed several atrocities by the al-Assad troops in Syria, including bombings of hospitals - being corrupt and "paid for by the US and UK to carry out regime change in Syria".
5/13
He was also one of the few MEPs who voted against condemning Nicagarua's Daniel Ortega for his human rights violations.
Wallace attempted to wipe out parts about the Russian involvement in the shooting down of MH17, which stirred up some emotions inside his MEP party.
6/13
He's also criticized the sanctions imposed on Russian individuals by the US and EU as being illegal and not complying to the UN Charter. Mick has also attended protests supporting Algirdas Paleckis, a Lithuanian politician who was convicted of spying on behalf of Russia.
7/13
He's also voted against Ukraine aid packages, demands of Putin to withdraw Russia's troops from Ukraine and against a resolution to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
In Mick's defense, he's also called for peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
8/13
Incidentally, like so many other vatnik, this support started only after Russia's illegal annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhanks & Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
Mick Wallace doesn't love just Russia - he also puts a lot time and effort to supporting China's geopolitical goals.
9/13
He has downplayed the Uyghur concentration camps and called the reports on them "grossly exaggerated". In 2021 he stated that there is no solid evidence of the existence of these camps. Overwhelming evidence about the existence of these camps have been presented since 2017.
10/13
In an interview by the Global Times,a Chinese state-run newspaper,he said that China "takes better care of its people" than the EU.Mick's also in the "Taiwan is part of CCP" gang. He's been featured the most in Chinese-language news articles than any other Irish person.
11/13
Wallace's company declared bankruptcy on Dec,2016 with debts over 30 million EUR. Mick seems to be very bad with money in general: in 2012 it emerged that his company forgot to pay 2,1 million EUR in taxes.Later on he admitted "fiddling" his company's VAT returns on purpose.12/13
Bad financing seems to be almost an epidemic among pro-Russian actors...
Mick was going speak at the NO2NATONO2WAR event in Feb, 2023 with The Grayzone gang and other vatniks, but the venue cancelled their booking.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Vincent Bolloré, a French billionaire and media tycoon. He’s best known for building a powerful media empire and for reshaping editorial lines across French media and publishing, pushing them toward far-right and pro-Kremlin positions.
1/25
Born in 1952 in Boulogne-Billancourt to a family of industrialists, Vincent studied law at Paris Nanterre University. He took over the family business and turned it into a sprawling conglomerate spanning logistics, port infrastructure in Africa, advertising, and media.
2/25
Bolloré’s African logistics empire also became the subject of a long-running corruption investigation in France. Legal proceedings against Vincent Bolloré personally are still ongoing, with a trial planned in December, after a judge refused to approve a plea deal.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce an American conspiracy theorist, podcaster & antisemite, Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO). She’s best known for spreading conspiracy theories, attacking Ukraine, promoting pro-Kremlin BS, and becoming a favorite of Russian state media.
1/21
Candace started her career as an intern at Vogue magazine but later moved into political commentary. Her early career focused on criticizing Republicans, calling their antics “bat-shit crazy.” In 2016, her blog even published an article about Trump’s penis size.
2/21
That same year, she launched a doxxing website called SocialAutopsy. In response, people began posting Owens’s personal information online. During the controversy, she gained support from figures such as @Nero and @Cernovich. And just like that, she became a conservative.
In today’s Wumao Soup, we’ll talk about Taiwan, the sovereign country the Chinese Communist Party insists is not a country, but constantly threatens to invade just like a country, while the “antiwar” crowd is eagerly encouraging them to start that war, endangering millions.
1/20
Taiwan is a country, a state. It has its own territory, government, army, police, courts, taxes, passports and elections, just like any other country.
The only difference? Its neighbor, imperialist China, wants to invade it, and other countries try to please the big bully.
2/20
Taiwan’s official name is the Republic of China, or ROC. The ROC was founded in 1912, after the fall of the Qing dynasty. The People’s Republic of China, or PRC, was founded by democidal dictator Mao Zedong and his communist party, in 1949, after fighting against the ROC.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we’ll introduce Russian propaganda operations around military targets like Starobilsk. For over a decade, the Kremlin has used similar strategies, combining crisis actors, “independent journalists” and fabricated evidence.
1/13
First, let’s go back to 2014. Russia funded separatist groups and sent its mercenaries to Donbas, which led to the creation of two puppet states, Donetsk and Luhansk, governed by Russian propagandists and soldiers like Igor Girkin.
The fake genocide was touted as one of the main reasons for Russia’s war during the early stages of the full-scale invasion, and the claim was made even by Putin himself. Before his mutiny, late Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said that all this was fabricated bullshit.
In this 9th Debunk of the Day, we’ll discuss “legitimate military targets”. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine, with no declaration of war, hiding behind a “special military operation”. Yet vatniks & useful idiots pretend Russia has any legitimate or lawful targets in Ukraine.
1/8
Russia started the war in 2014 by seizing Crimea with unmarked soldiers, “little green men”. Russians have been waging an undeclared, illegal war with endless war crimes ever since, whether it’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children with genocidal intent…
… the concentration camps for Ukrainians under occupation, conscripting Ukrainians from occupied territories, or the terrorist, deliberate bombing of civilians, including their infamous “double tap” strikes.
So no, Russia does not have any “legitimate targets” in Ukraine.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, we introduce Hasan Piker, a Turkish-American streamer and millionaire. He’s best known for his champagne socialism, rabid criticism of the US and Israel, support for the Soviet Union and for Chinese and Russian invasions, and for mistreating his dog.
1/20
Born in 1991, Piker grew up in a privileged and well-connected environment. His father held senior roles at big corporations and his uncle, Cenk Uygur, is the founder of The Young Turks media network. He graduated cum laude from Rutgers, a top-tier university in New Jersey.
2/20
His main activity and primary source of income consists of hours-long livestreams on Twitch where he comments on news and yells at videos. He also keeps his dog in place the whole time with a shock collar.