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The European Parliament elections took place against the background of an anti-Russian campaign, and the EP will carry on its Russophobic policy, according to a piece of disinformation released by the Russian MFA.
NEWS: The ideological Russophobic context has been preserved in the European Parliament, and the elections took place in the format of an officially encouraged anti-Russian campaign, said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova [...].
"There were no talks in the election campaign and no statement by EU bureaucrats without mentioning the Russian footprint, the Russian meddling, the Kremlin's hand and Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia," the diplomat said.
The elections took place against the background of bans and even the elimination of free competition, the information space being cleaned of inappropriate media elements. Political forces opposing a direct confrontation with Russia have been discriminated against or intimidated.
According to the election results, the European Parliament maintains its self-destructive Russophobic course. The EU's position towards Russia has deteriorated a lot and has reached an unprecedented level of hatred. "This European institution, which endlessly produces anti-Russian texts, has discredited itself and has become an openly Russophobic structure," Zakharova concluded.
NARRATIVES: 1. The European Parliament has been carrying out a Russophobic policy, and that is not going to stop; 2. The EU encourages Ukraine's war against Russia; 3. Anti-war politicians and media are persecuted in the EU.
SOCIAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: The tenth European Parliament elections were held between June 6 and 9, 2024. The results show that the current centrist configuration - EPP/Socialists/Renew - will be maintained, which will most likely mean a new mandate for Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission. Although the extreme right, which has pro-Russian affinities, had some gains, in the EU as a whole these are not significant, given that the increases in some western states were canceled out by the pro-center votes in the eastern member states.
This year's elections were the first since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the armed conflict near the EU's eastern borders is one of the central topics of the election campaign in several member states. The condemnation of the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the closing of some propaganda channels are seen by Moscow as Russophobic and hostile stances towards the Russian state.
PURPOSE: To create and strengthen the image of the EU as an external enemy of Moscow; to justify Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The European Parliament cannot be termed a Russophobic institution as a whole, given that there are numerous parties represented in this forum that have a pro-Russian discourse. The European Union has also not shown itself as an adversary of Russia or the Russian people, despite being one of the main targets of the Kremlin propaganda for years. The fact that Putin regime’s anti-democratic slippages, assassination attempts committed by Russian agents on EU territory, attempts to manipulate elections in member states, disinformation campaigns and the unprovoked invasion of some independent states have been criticized at European level, including in the European Parliament, does not in any way mean Russophobia. These have been just normal reactions for any democratic state.
The European Parliament’s reactions in the last two years regarding Moscow are related to the crimes committed by the Putin regime on the territory of Ukraine in the context of the full-scale invasion. According to a resolution of the European Parliament issued in February this year, the invasion launched by Russia has fundamentally changed the geopolitical situation in Europe and beyond. The MEPs argue that a Russian victory in the war will have serious consequences for the EU. In November 2022, the European Parliament designated Russia as a terrorist state. Following the atrocities committed by Vladimir Putin's regime against Ukrainian civilians, the MEPs designated Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The European Parliament believes that Russia is committing war crimes and using "terrorist means", and MEPs have called for Moscow to be further isolated internationally; that Russian state-affiliated institutions in the EU that promote propaganda be closed and banned, and much more drastic sanctions be introduced. These resolutions do not represent a manifestation of Russophobia, but a normal reaction of a representative European institution that takes into account the norms of international law.
The EU and its institutions do not encourage or finance a war against Russia because the Russian state is the aggressor, not the victim. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry alludes to some discussions in the European Parliament earlier this year, according to which Russia shouldn’t be allowed to defeat Ukraine , but changes the content of this message, saying that the goal is "the victory of Ukraine in the war against Russia." Ukraine's victory is presented as an act of aggression by the Russophobic West against the Russian world. In fact, the EU states and institutions have supported Ukraine's inherent right to self-defense, guaranteed by the UN Charter. The European Parliament had never taken such a hardline stance on Russia before the full-scale invasion. According to official data, since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression, the EU and its member states have provided or committed more than 143 billion euros in aid for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, of which 81 billion euros in the form of financial and budgetary support and humanitarian aid, and only 33 billion euros in military support.
In the EU, politicians, journalists, people of culture or ordinary citizens are not persecuted for their opinions. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the European space. What Russian propaganda calls an "anti-war stance" is in reality pro-Kremlin attitude and/or policy. After the EU banned a number of Russian propaganda outlets in 2022, including Sputnik, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova confirmed that Brussels had decided to ban Izvestia , Rosiskaia Gazeta, RIA Novosti, as well as Voice of Europe. The measure was not meant to persecute anti-war journalists, as Maria Zakharova claimed, but to block some channels that were used by Moscow to conduct the hybrid war against the West. According to the EU's official explanations, omitted by the Russian press, the measure came after another ten publications, including Russia Today, had already been banned in the EU, as they were used as propaganda and disinformation tools. EU intelligence agencies have identified a Russian-funded network engaging in pro-Russian propaganda in Europe, particularly targeting the European Parliament. As with the war in Ukraine, the EU’s measures are reactive and defensive, without any Russophobic or pro-war purpose.
It should also be noted that, with regard to the EU's major political decisions, the key players are the European Council and the Commission.
Veridica has debunked a series of false narratives regarding the West's involvement in the war in Ukraine. According to Russian propaganda, Von der Leyen is increasingly criticized in the EU for supporting Ukraine, while the American aid will cause destruction and casualties in Ukrainian cities. In February this year, Moscow newspapers wrote that the Ukrainians and the West were making the same mistakes on the front as Hitler and, just like Hitler, were going to lose the war.
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