Talking in one breath about Russia “hybrid warfare” and environmental school protests across Europe is not bizarre paranoia, but a deliberate tactic, RT has been told.

Centrist forces in Europe as well as in the US “have been trying to deflect attention to Russia whenever there are key issues that are coming up on the streets and in their communities,” British peace campaigner and academic George Barda told RT.

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“These are the same issues that the Gilets Jaunes [Yellow Vests] are responding to, that the Occupy Movement was responding to, that the anti-austerity movements around the world have been protesting against ever since the financial crisis of 2008.”

During a Q&A session at the Munich Security Conference at the weekend, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel had talked about the alleged Russian “hybrid warfare,” then moved on to the repeated environmental protests among schoolchildren that spread from Scandinavia to the rest of Europe.

“That all children suddenly think of climate change without foreign interference is difficult to imagine,” said Merkel. The chancellor eventually had to backpedal, claiming that she actually backs the demonstrations.

But having seen a minister in Belgium make similar allegations, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron’s persistent attempts to highlight shadowy forces behind the Yellow Vest movement which has mobilized millions of citizens, to Barda this appears to be the go-to response from an establishment unable to tackle fundamental issues of globalization, inequality and security.

“This about is the failure of the establishment to respond to the fundamental issues of that crisis. And it is also the anger of normal taxpayers who have faced massive constraints just living normal lives, struggling desperately to pay for bills and food,” said Barda.

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