Spanish MEP Hermann Tertsch of the Vox party, a journalist, said that the conditions needed to hold free elections in Venezuela do not currently exist as long as Delcy Rodríguez remains in power, while maintaining that the vast majority of Venezuelans aspire to a democratic outcome and to the return of the millions of citizens living outside the country.

During an interview given to the program Rumbo Radio, Tertsch called Rodríguez a “criminal.”

He questioned her continuing at the head of Venezuela, considering that her remaining in power makes it unfeasible, under current circumstances, to hold an electoral process that could be considered truly free.

“Right now the conditions do not exist with Delcy in power; there are no conditions for elections,” said Tertsch, who nevertheless considered that they could be created within six months if a transition process begins to move forward with the participation of Venezuelans and the backing of the United States.

The writer also maintained that Venezuela needs a date for the elections and a timetable that lets the population know the steps and deadlines of the transition. In his view, that process must lead to a democratic outcome and allow the return of Venezuelans who are abroad.

Tertsch said that most Venezuelans want a democratic solution and that the roughly eight million citizens who, as he mentioned, are outside the country should be able to return. “The immense majority, 90-some percent of Venezuelans, want a democratic exit that is scheduled,” he said during the conversation.

“The Venezuelan regime is a Cuban regime”

At another point in the interview, Tertsch maintained that the Venezuelan political system answers to a “Cuban regime,” which he described as a model of great “perversity” and sophistication in its mechanisms of control and destabilization.

“The regime is a Cuban regime, and the Cuban regime is of an immense perversity and sophistication in its perversity,” he maintained.

The Spanish politician called on Venezuelans to avoid provocations, but at the same time to make clear that there is a majority demand for a democratic transition with concrete dates and conditions. “Do not fall for provocations,” he urged, warning about what he considers mechanisms used by the regime to generate fear and discourage any movement toward a transition.

Says María Corina Will Return to Venezuela Soon

The Spanish MEP said that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado will return to the country “very soon,” despite attempts that, he said, have been thwarted. His statements came while addressing the political transition process in Venezuela and the conditions for holding future elections.

Hermann Tertsch maintained that Machado’s participation will be fundamental in any electoral process seeking to advance toward a democratic transition and considered it necessary that Venezuelans be able to return to the country and freely express their political will.

“I believe she is going to go to Venezuela, and she is going to go to Venezuela very soon. There are no elections without María Corina, there are no elections of any kind without Venezuelans returning and Venezuelans being able to express themselves freely,” he stated.

The MEP also proposed that Venezuela must advance toward an “orderly” democracy and said that process must respond to the criteria of Venezuelans themselves. He also expressed his expectation that progress will be made relatively soon in the country’s political transition.

His statements come amid the debate over Venezuela’s political future and the conditions that should be established for an eventual call for elections.

Read the full article at RCC Noticias

Hermann Tertsch is a Distinguished Fellow (Honorary) at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

Viktor Orbán has accused Hungary’s governing Tisza party of “neo-communist tactics” after prosecutors detained two ministers from his governments on September 28.

The former prime minister said the new authorities were producing fresh victims every day and would not break what he called his patriotic community. He argued that Tisza had staged political theatre rather than face rising taxes and fuel prices.

Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták were taken into custody hours after parliament voted 139-0 to suspend their immunity. Fidesz and its Christian Democrat allies boycotted the sitting.

Hankó is being investigated over the National Cultural Fund, where prosecutors say 17.3 billion forints (about €44 million) went to awards outside the fund’s statutory purposes. Seszták is accused of taking bribes worth some 11 billion forints (about €30 million) tied to bus procurement and construction contracts.

Balázs Orbán, political director to the former prime minister, described the events as a political prosecution in the style of the 1950s. He said the method had been copied from Poland, where he claimed the government had already used similar means against its opponents.

Kinga Gál, a Fidesz vice-president and MEP, called September 28 “a dark day for Hungarian democracy”. She accused Prime Minister Péter Magyar of pressuring police and prosecutors while building a political police force to pursue his opponents.

András László, also a Fidesz MEP, said the judiciary was acting on Magyar’s personal instructions. He said the Prime Minister had announced the proceedings on social media before the authorities opened them.

László tied the detentions to a second vote at the same sitting, in which no MP backed President András Baka’s nominee for prosecutor general. The service pursuing the two men has had no confirmed head since its last chief resigned under pressure from Magyar in July.

János Bóka, the Fidesz parliamentary leader, said his group would not assist political theatre and stayed away from the vote. He said those who set the case in motion would be called to account.

Magyar’s own immunity was lifted the same morning at his request, over a 2024 incident in which prosecutors say he threw a man’s phone into the Danube. The European Commission, which froze billions of euros over rule-of-law concerns during Orbán’s final term, moved to unblock the money after the change of government.

Both former ministers deny wrongdoing and none of the three has been charged.

Read the full article at Brussels Signal

Hermann Tertsch is a Distinguished Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

In brief

Hermann Tertsch joined NTN24’s Club de Prensa to discuss the possible return of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and Delcy Rodríguez’s dealings with Washington.

From NTN24 (translated): Hermann Tertsch, MEP for Spain’s VOX party and vice president of Patriots for Europe, and journalist Javier Villamor spoke with NTN24’s Club de Prensa about the eventual return to Venezuela of democratic leader María Corina Machado and the role of the regime’s acting head, Delcy Rodríguez, toward Washington.

The interview is conducted in Spanish. NTN24’s headline: “Delcy Rodríguez está engañando a Washington, esa criminal no puede seguir en el poder”: eurodiputado de Vox.

Watch the full segment at NTN24

Hermann Tertsch is a Distinguished Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa told Kurdistan 24 in an exclusive exchange that Damascus enjoys good economic and security ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government and with President Masoud Barzani, President Nechirvan Barzani, and other Kurdish political groups, describing the relationship as still in its early stages while expressing confidence that the two sides can build on these foundations and develop their relationship further in the future.

Al-Sharaa’s characterization of the ties as good across both economic and security dimensions is significant, given the complexity of the relationship between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as DAANES, which controls a large portion of northeastern Syria. The distinction al-Sharaa draws between his ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil and the broader Kurdish political landscape, naming both President Barzani and Nechirvan Barzani alongside other groups, suggests Damascus is engaging with the full spectrum of Kurdish political actors rather than limiting its engagement to a single party or institution.

The description of the relationship as being in its early stages is an honest acknowledgment that the post-Assad transition has only recently created the political conditions for normal relations between Damascus and Erbil to develop. Under Assad, Syria’s relationship with the Kurdistan Region was shaped by the broader regional dynamics of Iranian influence, PKK presence in Syria, and the closed border that limited economic interaction. With Assad gone, sanctions lifted, and Syria reintegrating into the regional and international community, the relationship between Damascus and Erbil is genuinely starting from a new baseline.

The interview comes as Syria is simultaneously pursuing a security agreement with Israel, managing the integration of SDF forces into its national army, rehabilitating the Ottoman-era railway connecting Europe to the Red Sea in partnership with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, and positioning itself as a regional energy transit hub through the Basra-to-Baniyas oil corridor backed by a Chevron-led $5.7 billion pipeline contract. The Kurdistan Region’s own strategic importance as a stable and internationally connected entity on Syria’s eastern frontier makes building ties with Erbil a natural component of Damascus’s broader regional integration strategy.

Read the full article at Kurdistan24

Rahim Rashidi is a Media Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

In brief

Hermann Tertsch spoke on NTN24’s La Mañana about Delcy Rodríguez’s appearance at the UN General Assembly in New York.

From NTN24’s report, translated: Hermann Tertsch, MEP for Spain’s VOX party, analyzed on NTN24 the 81st UN General Assembly under way in New York, an edition marked by the presence of the Venezuelan regime’s caretaker, Delcy Rodríguez. On the Chavista leader’s visit and speech in the United States, Tertsch said that it “will be of no importance because she has always lied, and at the podium she will look the same.”

The interview is conducted in Spanish.

Watch the full segment at NTN24

Hermann Tertsch is a Distinguished Fellow (Honorary) at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

The appearance of Issa Remmo, identified by German media as the head of the well-known Remmo clan, at an election party of Die Linke (The Left) sparked a heated controversy in Berlin. The episode occurred during the party’s election celebration in Neukölln and quickly raised questions about the ties and the controls at events of the German left.

Issa Remmo appeared at Die Linke’s election party

According to the German press, Remmo showed up at the party’s election celebration in Neukölln, where he even gave statements to the Berliner Morgenpost about the accusations of antisemitism hanging over parts of Die Linke.

Remmo himself told the German outlet that he felt “supported by a party for the first time” in Germany. He also defended Die Linke against the accusations of antisemitism and said he would not vote for a politician who was anti-Jewish.

The episode is especially striking because Die Linke was celebrating its election result in Berlin, while the presence of a figure publicly associated with the Remmo clan was drawing criticism from various political quarters.

The German left distanced itself from the visitor

After Remmo’s presence became public, representatives of Die Linke tried to distance themselves.

Die Linke’s Neukölln organization maintained that it was a public event that people who had not been invited could attend, and stated that Remmo was not on the guest list.

“The person and his specific presence were unknown to us,” explained a party spokeswoman, who added that there are no political or personal ties with Remmo.

Die Linke’s candidate, Elif Eralp, also later maintained that Remmo had not been invited and that he was removed from the venue.

Kai Wegner questioned Remmo’s presence

The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, also reacted publicly to the episode and described Remmo’s appearance as a worrying sign.

Wegner argued that a political force that aims to take on the responsibilities of government in Berlin must make clear that there is no closeness of any kind to structures linked to organized crime. He also demanded an explanation of how it was possible for Remmo to get into the celebration.

The controversy later gained another element: German media reported that Ibrahim Ibrahim, singled out by German organizations and media for his support for the terrorist organization PFLP and linked to anti-Israel activism, appeared alongside Remmo.

The episode thus opened a new debate about Die Linke, its political spaces and the controls over who takes part in its activities, amid an intense discussion about security, antisemitism and extremism in Berlin.

Read the full article at La Derecha Diario

Hermann Tertsch is a Distinguished Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, a Washington, D.C. foreign policy and defense think tank.

Hermann Tertsch, Distinguished Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, was honored by the Emilia Bernal Foundation for his career in journalism and his defense of freedom and democracy.

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Seth Keshel, Senior Fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, quoted at length in Townhall on why an early August poll is not a verdict on the 2026 midterms.

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