The Russian leader pointed to the double standards applied by the media.
Billionaire financier Soros is attempting to “rock the euro” according to rumours, the Russian president noted in his interview with Armin Wolf of the Austrian state ORF channel.
Wolf repeated several US evidence-free claims against Russia, including the use of “troll farms” by Moscow to meddle in US elections. When questioned about the alleged “trolls” hired to favour the election of Donald Trump, the Russian president replied that “the Russian state has nothing to do with it”.
But he raised the question of double standards regarding the role of Soros in the EU.
“There is such a personality in the US – Mr. [George] Soros, who interferes in all affairs around the world. I often hear from my American friends that ‘America as a state has nothing to do with [his activities],” Putin said.
“There are rumors circulating now that Mr. Soros is planning to make the euro highly volatile. Experts are already discussing this. Ask the [US] State Department why he is doing this. The State Department will say that it has nothing to do with them – rather it is Mr. Soros’ private affair,” the Russian leader responded.
Soros funds a network of NGOs and other front organisations in the former Soviet states, Eastern Europe, Africa and elsewhere, promoting an open-border, pro-American liberal agenda.
Soros’s hostility towards national sovereignty and borders has a long history: in 1998 he called for the creation of “a new international authority that transcends the sovereignty of states to promote an open society.”
His father, Tivadar, a Jewish lawyer, was already a globalist promoting Esperanto. Esperanto is a language created in 1887 by LL Zamenhof, a Polish eye doctor, for the purpose of “transcending national borders” and “overcoming the natural indifference of mankind”.
Tivadar taught young George Esperanto and forced him to speak it at home. In 1936, Tivadar changed the family name from Schwartz to Soros, an Esperanto word meaning “to soar”.
But the importance of national identity in Central and Eastern Europe remains unchanged. Pew Research Center data shows that 94 percent of Hungarians think customs and traditions are important for being truly Hungarian, while 81 percent of Hungarians affirm the importance of being born in Hungary.
The corresponding figure in Sweden is 66 percent for customs and traditions, even though it is only 20 percent for birthplace.
Hungary has thus cracked down on Soros’ meddling to aid migration with the “Stop Soros” bill. This week it will be debated by politicians in the capital, Budapest.
The draft bill targets NGOs and individuals deemed to be aiding illegal immigrants in seeking asylum. In 2015, Soros-fronts were blacklisted in Russia as “a threat to the foundations of the constitutional system… and the security of the state”.