European elections will gauge the power of populism
Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow with the Centre for European Reform in Brussels, said the Austria scandal is timely ammunition for those who warn that many populist parties are deeply compromised by their ties to Mr Putin. “It emboldens those who question the populists’ good intentions and who call for greater transparency in the way these parties have been funded and investigations into their links to Russia,” she said.