In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Dutch, far-right political party Forum voor Democratie (FvD for short; @fvdemocratie). They're best-known for their anti-Ukraine and pro-Kremlin politics, and for their tendency to support the craziest conspiracy theories out there.
1/19
FvD was initially founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2015. Their main goal was to oppose the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine and the Dutch membership in the EU, calling for a referendum act on the issue.
2/19
Otten was kicked out of FvD after he allegedly led the party apparatus in a dictatorial way and transferred some money from party donors to his own consultancy company, without permission. Baudet has been introduced on #vatniksoup previously:
In Sep 2016, FvD was converted into a political party and announced its intention to take part in the 2017 general election, in which they won two seats in the House of Representatives. After that, the party grew fast, and in 2019 they had nearly 31 000 members.
4/19
FvD really took off in the 2019 provincial elections, when they won 86 seats. They were the largest party in three provinces, and 2nd or 3rd in many others. Most of their candidates had no prior experience in politics or in political parties.
5/19
FvD suffered from internal issues due to their rapid growth, and in 2018 many prominent members left the party because they felt it lacked democracy in its decision-making. In 2020, the party was again a target of controversy, when its youth wing made racist...
6/19
... and homophobic comments. The party leader, Baudet, was also accused of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. Baudet temporarily stepped down as party leader, only to return for the 2021 general election. The party campaigned against COVID-19 lockdowns,...
7/19
... and managed to win 8 seats. Due to controversies such as comparing the COVID-19 lockdowns to Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and protesting against Zelenskyy's speech to the House of Representatives, many of the party's representatives abandoned the party.
8/19
From the beginning, FvD along with its leader has called for better relations between the Netherlands & Russia. Baudet strongly opposed the sanctions against Russia after the occupation of Crimea & co-signed a letter calling for new investigation on the shoot down of MH17.
9/19
In 2020 Dutch TV program Zembla published Whatsapp group messages with interaction between Baudet and Russian Vladimir Kornilov. Based on NYT, Kornilov has ties to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin, and in his messages Baudet described him as "a Russian who works for Putin."
10/19
In one of the messages, Baudet told Otten that he wanted to stop working as a commentator on the the TV network Powned, and suggested that "Maybe Kornilov wants to pay some extra". After the messages were published, Thierry switched immediately to damage control mode...
11/19
...declaring that the conversations about Kornilov were a "running gag" and "playful exaggeration". The messages also revealed that he wanted Netherlands to leave NATO, despite the party's election program declaring that Dutch collaboration with NATO should be increased.
12/19
In addition, Baudet has promoted conspiracy theories about "evil reptilians" and the "globalists" ruling over the world, the EU being a "a cultural Marxist project destroying European civilization," and that George Soros introduced the COVID-19 virus.
13/19
Thierry is a big fan of Putin, and he's called him the "hero that we need". He's also claimed that "he must win the war" in Ukraine and "we must do everything we can to support him". His former buddy Otten called him a "Manchurian candidate" over his support for Putin.
14/19
FvD has received a lot of help from anti-EU political strategist John Laughland, who has allegedly designed the political blueprint for the party. Laughland is part of an international conservative network with direct ties to the Kremlin:
In Jul 2023, Baudet and Laughland organized a Twitter Space called "The Decline of Western Civilization", to which they invited Russia's fascist #1 Alexander Dugin:
FvD, like so many other pro-Kremlin parties around Europe, has been described as ideologically national conservative, eurosceptic & right-wing populist. With the likes of Le Pen & Wilders, the rise in their popularity was already evident in the 2014 EU Parliament election.
17/19
Today, FvD is an unremarkable party and its leader Baudet is mostly being ridiculed, but a similar blueprint, with emphasis on anti-immigration, anti-EU/anti-NATO policies and populism, will be used to gain popularity in the future, too.
18/19
Similar policies brought success to Geert Wilders' PVV in the 2023 Dutch general election, when it became the largest party in the Parliament. Some political commentators have said that Wilders gained votes from former fans of newer parties like FvD:
19/19
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.
1/20
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.
2/20
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.
1/5
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.
These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").
2/5
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.
1/21
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.
2/21
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.
1/21
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.
2/21
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.
1/15
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.
The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.
2/15
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text: