Professor from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb Đana Luša was a guest of N1 Studio live and commented on the situation with the war in Ukraine, as well as the results of the elections in Italy.
She commented on the mass departure of Russians to other countries due to Putin’s announcement of mobilization, saying that it was certainly not chaos that would lead to the fall of the regime.
“War has now certainly entered the Russian Federation. We saw what the reactions were. Those who had some means left. The elites have become aware of the terrifying fact that war is really happening and that any man can be recruited and sent to war,” she said.
Source: N1
Is it going downhill for Putin?
Luša says that it is certain that the regime is strong as long as it has the support of its citizens.
“The Russians basically gave Putin a green card, as long as he does something that will not directly affect their interests. As the situation develops more in a negative direction for Russia, we still see fear among Russians, which can also manifest itself through greater unrest. What we can draw from Putin’s speech is not only this mobilization, he also announced two big things, or two elements of his future strategy. The first is the referendum and the annexation of the conquered territories, and the second is the possibility of using nuclear weapons. All this creates an atmosphere of fear and hopelessness that can lead to some slightly bigger riots,” she said.
He points out that there has also been a change in Putin’s rhetoric.
“Unlike in February, when he labeled Ukraine as the main enemy, in this speech Putin is turning more towards the West and NATO. He went a step further. Lavrov also put the whole situation in the context of the war between Russia and the rest of the Western world before the UN General Assembly. The stakes are getting higher and higher here,” he points out.
“We no longer have a neutral China, we have a China that calls for peace and the stabilization of relations. We also have India calling for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. We also have Erdogan, who is calling for the calm of the conflict,” she added.
She also referred to the possibility of possible negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
“It is very difficult to forecast anything because the situation on the field changes every month. In this current situation, apart from the role of great human sacrifices, Ukraine is not in a situation where it is useful to sit at the diplomatic table. It is certain that Putin’s sitting at the diplomatic table would be seen as some kind of admission of defeat. It is very difficult to predict the moment when it would be good for Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. I think it has gone too far now that any sitting at the diplomatic table could be interpreted as his victory,” he said.
Elections in Italy
She briefly referred to the victory of Giorgia Meloni in the elections in Italy.
“Following the media, many headlines talk about the return of the extreme right and neo-fascism in Italy. The new Italian Prime Minister won the election by promoting the idea – Italy first. There is a certain fear that we are getting another Orban who will stop every initiative. Meloni herself changed her attitudes towards the EU and NATO during the campaign. She promotes certain policies regarding abortion, the rights of minors and migrants that are associated with the extreme right. Some will call it a new victory for the right in Europe, but I wouldn’t call it that,” Luša pointed out.
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