Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev published bizarre forecasts for 2023 on Twitter. There should be a civil war in the USA and a “Fourth Reich” in Europe. Medvedev was long considered a liberal, rational politician. What happened?
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chief of the Russian Security Council, was once considered a liberal reformer. During his tenure as Russian president from 2008 to 2012, Medvedev maintained a casual relationship with the West, being filmed with then-US President Barack Obama making a casual visit to a fast-food joint.
But the supposedly liberal politician has now turned into a nationalist agitator who wishes for the Soviet Union back. “All the peoples who once inhabited the great and powerful USSR will live together again in friendship,” he wrote on VKontakte, Russia’s Facebook equivalent. The post was later deleted, allegedly by hackers who wrote the text.
Medvedev has now published his bizarre forecasts for the coming year on Twitter. In a ten-part thread, the 57-year-old writes that he too would like to make a “modest contribution” to the “competition of the wildest theories”.
Apparently not meant to be taken seriously, but still full of polemics, the politician predicts some wild scenarios for 2023. There should be a civil war in the USA, from which California and Texas would emerge as independent states. President of the new USA? According to Medvedev, none other than Elon Musk, who will win Republican votes in particular.
Medvedev also has some prophecies in store for Europe. The UK will rejoin the EU, which will consequently collapse. Poland and Hungary would then start a war and conquer western areas of “former Ukraine”.
The Russian narrative of the National Socialist West is also reflected in the forecasts. Medvedev predicts the creation of a “Fourth Reich” that will include Germany, Poland, the Baltic States and the “Republic of Kyiv,” among others. However, a war will break out between this empire and France, which will lead to the division of Europe.
Finally, Medvedev ends his prophecy with “seasonal greetings” to all his “Anglo-Saxon friends and their happily grunting piglets.”
“Putin’s Net – How the KGB Retook Russia and Then Set their Eyes on the West” by Catherine Belton.
Medvedev’s contribution shows how unrestrained the ex-president has become. But where does his drastic change of heart from a former liberal to agitator come from? Colum MacKenzie, Russia specialist for SRF, points out that “Medvedev’s time as president will certainly be glossed over”.
After all, Russia attacked neighboring Georgia during Medvedev’s tenure as president. Apparently, as prime minister, Putin controlled politics from the background. Medvedev only carried out orders.
But MacKenzie also suspects some kind of test behind the Kremlin’s bizarre theories about the West. Which politicians are so loyal to Putin that they would spread “any bullshit”? Medvedev is now only a political fringe figure who mourns the old days as a powerful man. “This shows that he is not a politician with strong character,” said the Russia expert.
