right now usa would value pro maga more than anti russia

eu unity only matter if they are unified in their support of usa

Vance heading back home from Pakistan after failed peace talks with Iran.

I hope the Iranian delegation thanked him for the effort at least.

8 hours ago, Malcador said:

I would think the U$ would prefer a weak EU

I'd say the US gov't wants the EU to pay a higher portion of the defense bill, which doesn't happen with a weak EU economy.

3 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Vance heading back home from Pakistan after failed peace talks with Iran.

I hope the Iranian delegation thanked him for the effort at least.

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/12/world/live-news/iran-us-war-talks-trump?post-id=cmnva53pj00043b6roxlb2gq7

Yes, Iran refusing to abandon its nuclear program and reponing the straits seems to be the sticking points

No agreement: US Vice President JD Vance says no agreement was reached with Iran after marathon talks in Pakistan. Iran would not commit to forgoing a nuclear weapon, Vance said. Iran’s foreign ministry told state media that disagreement over “two, or three” key issues prevented a deal.

Both of these are understandable demands but the latter has now become Iran's main strategy and this wouldn't have been an issue if the US and Israel hadn't attacked Iran. And Iran knows this is putting political pressure on Trump

Trumps now in an invidious position, he started this and now he has to ensure the Straits are open

CNBC

Trump says U.S. will blockade Strait of Hormuz after Iran...

Trump said the U.S. blockade will stop Iran from policing the strait and benefiting economically while the rest of the world suffers from its closure.

"seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran.""

That could be a bit dicy.

And just for humour

Edited April 12Apr 12 by Malcador

Well, Redacted gets points for thinking outside the box, outside the building containing the box, and outside the city containing the building. But I'm expecting the plan won't last long before he brain farts another idea.

Orban conceded. It's been 16 years, man.

Uno_reverse_card.jpg

Guess he'd tried the decapitation strike part of Venezuela on Iran, now it's time to try the seizing ships part and see if it does any better.

32 minutes ago, Lexx said:

Orban conceded. It's been 16 years, man.

Will be interesting to see how the relations between Hungary and Ukraine change.

Even Orban can take a loss.

Wonder how true this is, Bloomberg are reasonably credible, no ?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-11/us-navy-ships-crossed-strait-of-hormuz-on-saturday-axios-says

Edited April 12Apr 12 by Malcador

The US claim was that two destroyers transited the Strait (some sources have them immediately reversing course and leaving, which may be where the confusion arises). Centcom shared a photo of it*. Sad to see that US destroyers can only afford a Potatomatic 1200 for their propaganda shots...

May be the al-salamah islands in the background, which are in the middle (east-west wise) of the Strait. If so the destroyer(s) would not be in the shipping lanes though, but hugging the Omani/ Emirati coast about 10km further south. Which might technically count as a transit, but it's unlikely you're going to get supertankers or bulk carriers taking the same route. Haven't seen anyone geolocate it, but my very quick and not overly confident estimate would be here(ish) looking roughly north.

*For those who aren't habitual users of preparation h Arabian Gulf = Persian Gulf much as Gulf of America = Gulf of Mexico.

Edited April 12Apr 12 by Zoraptor

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/13/hungary-election-results-eu-europe-leaders-react-peter-magyar-viktor-orban

An incredible victory for Magyar, he didnt just win the Hungarian election. He annihilated Orban with a 2/3 win in parliament

This was first and foremost a win for the people of Hungary because its an example of how Democracy allows leadership change through the ballot box. As I have mentioned many times we often take this for granted because we assume our elections will be free and fair and we tend to complain about the policy outcomes and decisions

We sometimes forget that there are countries where elections are pre-determined and voting has no influence on leadership change. This Hungarian election is a reminder of how citizen participation and activism can and does lead to new leadership

But the link I attached summarizes other points of the significance of this Hungarian election

"EU leaders heaped praise on Péter Magyar after his decisive election victory in Hungary against the long-serving prime minister Viktor Orbán, who many saw as a direct threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity.

The outpouring reflected a deep frustration with Orbán across the EU’s 27 member states and its institutions.

“Today Europe wins and European values win,” said the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, in a post on X on Sunday night. The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, wrote on social media: “Hungary Poland Europe Back together! Glorious victory, dear friends! Ruszkik haza!”. Ruszkik haza translates into English as “Russians, go home”.

Orbán’s 16-year grip on power has tested the EU system of governance meant to ensure peace through economic and political integration after the devastation of the first and second world wars. Claiming he sought to advance the national interests of Hungarians over strategy forged in Brussels, Orbán time and again vetoed collective action such as support for Ukraine after Russia’s all-out invasion.

Recently, the far-right leader’s government outraged EU leaders and officials when it admitted to providing a backchannel to Russia during summits.

In a recent interview, Magyar told the Associated Press that if elected, he would repair Hungary’s relationship with the EU. However, he has carefully avoided taking firm positions on a number of divisive issues during the election campaign – including Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies and whether Hungary should extend more support to Ukraine.

4 hours ago, BruceVC said:

In a recent interview, Magyar told the Associated Press that if elected, he would repair Hungary’s relationship with the EU. However, he has carefully avoided taking firm positions on a number of divisive issues during the election campaign – including Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies and whether Hungary should extend more support to Ukraine.

I suspect he will take a pragmatic stance. No Hungarian support for Ukraine, but also no longering block the EU from supporting Ukraine

Always take politicians with a grain of salt. Orban was once the progressive, anti Russian option in Hungary

Hungary election: Jubilation in Budapest will be felt in Europe but leaves Moscow cold

"It's an ironic full circle for Orbán. He became famous in 1989 in then-communist Hungary, calling on Russians to go home in a passionate speech he gave in the dying days of the Soviet Union. It's a phrase that first ricocheted through Budapest during Hungary's ill-fated anti-communist uprising of 1956."

11 minutes ago, Gorth said:

I suspect he will take a pragmatic stance. No Hungarian support for Ukraine, but also no longering block the EU from supporting Ukraine

Always take politicians with a grain of salt. Orban was once the progressive, anti Russian option in Hungary

Hungary election: Jubilation in Budapest will be felt in Europe but leaves Moscow cold

"It's an ironic full circle for Orbán. He became famous in 1989 in then-communist Hungary, calling on Russians to go home in a passionate speech he gave in the dying days of the Soviet Union. It's a phrase that first ricocheted through Budapest during Hungary's ill-fated anti-communist uprising of 1956."

I agree, both candidates are still Conservative and that wont change

There are several Hungarians on Codex and most of them voted for Magyar because of the established corruption and inefficiency you often find with a leader in power for too long

Having better ties with the EU matters and not being in the Russian sphere of influence is relevant but not as much as the domestic issues but I do think better alignment within the EU is inextricably connected to better governance

Magyar is more favourable to Ukraine, I believe he will hold a referendum about Ukraine joining the EU to get a sense of what Hungarians really think and I doubt he will block the €90 billion EU aid like Orban did

Whats interesting is during the election Orban tried loads of fake news around Ukraine and Magyars views, for example he said Magyar would implement conscription and send 90k Hungarian soldiers to fight in the war

Here is a link about this and its nothing unusual for how Russian propaganda and interference in EU elections works

How Russia spread disinformation on the eve of Hungarian...

Traces of Moscow’s influence were visible across Hungarian social media.

@Gorth you will find this interesting, unprecedented numbers of people taking to the streets in Budapest to celebrate Magyars victory

It was also a massive voter turnout, 80% and the youth vote made a huge difference

I wonder if these crowds were bigger than when the USSR collapsed?

At least Trump demonstrating how bankrupt US Christians are.

lack of moral was never a problem for usa vassal before

the bigger problem is how obvious usa couldn't reign in their most belligerent vassal

bigger show of weakness than multiple failed 20 year occupation

What happens if the chinese send naval assets to protect their ships. The orangutang in the white house isen't smart enough to come out on top of a cuban missile crisis type moment in international relations. Is it time for a padded cell for Trump yet ?

What happens if the Chinese send naval assets to protect their ships. The orangutang in the white house isen't smart enough to come out on top of a cuban missile crisis type moment in international relations. Is it time for a padded cell for Trump yet ?

didn't russia just deliver oil to cuba despite usa blockade

usa maybe stupid enough to try to blockade 3 asia nuclear power getting their oil through strait of hormuz

wouldn't expect great result

4 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

didn't russia just deliver oil to cuba despite usa blockade

usa maybe stupid enough to try to blockade 3 asia nuclear power getting their oil through strait of hormuz

wouldn't expect great result

That Russian ship was allowed through the Cuban blockade, it didnt slip through

11 hours ago, Gorgon said:

What happens if the chinese send naval assets to protect their ships. The orangutang in the white house isen't smart enough to come out on top of a cuban missile crisis type moment in international relations. Is it time for a padded cell for Trump yet ?

That same argument could apply to Iran, " what if the US sends naval assets to protect their ships ". And yet the Iranians still blocked the Straits

China gets 15% of its oil from Iran, it will end up buying oil from other markets and the oil price will increase. Its not going to go to war over this but Iran sells 80-90% of its oil to China so if you block Iran from shipping then you will devastate the Iranian economy because state revenue is anything from 60-70% reliant on oil and gas sales. Thats why the US is doing it because they believe this will force Iran to agree to terms

But its not a good strategy because it will definitely increase the global oil price and we will all suffer because Trump failed to achieve his nebulous military objectives. The US should never have attacked Iran without clear and achievable objectives

But its a very effective strategy if you want to hurt Iran, ironically the Straits which are Iran's strongest deterrent to war are also its greatest weakness

Because now the US is doing what Iran is doing. Using the closure of the Straits to achieve its goals

12 hours ago, BruceVC said:

But its not a good strategy because it will definitely increase the global oil price and we will all suffer because Trump failed to achieve his nebulous military objectives. The US should never have attacked Iran without clear and achievable objectives

But its a very effective strategy if you want to hurt Iran, ironically the Straits which are Iran's strongest deterrent to war are also its greatest weakness

Because now the US is doing what Iran is doing. Using the closure of the Straits to achieve its goals

Naval blockades usually take a long time to work (years) and they put the blockading forces at risk of drone/missile attacks. I suspect what matters though is whether Iran is still able to blockade the straits for other nations. In that case the prices will remain high for the duration. It is benefitting the US somewhat though because we now have a larger potential market for LNG. Hopefully bombing Iranian civilian targets is now off the table.

22 hours ago, uuuhhii said:

didn't russia just deliver oil to cuba despite usa blockade

While often referred to as a blockade, it's not technically a proper big B Blockade. A Blockade has to be a physical, well, block. ie have ships or whatever enforcing it. The US embargo on Cuba is enforced by, for example, threatening Mexico with tariffs if they continued supply or invading Venezuela, rather than physically interdicting its tankers.

Cuba was under Blockade (and even then they avoided making it official and using the actual term since it is automatically an Act of War) during the Missile Crisis. That at least in theory had ships going to Cuba inspected for listed items such as missile components.

While Trumps offensive Jesus image is still remembered I had to post this