EU parliament condemns Russian propaganda, political party financing

The European Parliament approved a resolution on Nov. 23 recognizing the full-scale Russian propaganda operation in the EU and the financing of European political parties and organizations by the Kremlin. Both the Russian government and Islamist terrorist groups are distorting truth, inciting fear, provoking doubt and dividing the EU, the resolution said.

The Kremlin is waging hybrid warfare in Ukraine’s Donbas region and is employing “think tanks, multilingual TV stations, pseudo-news agencies an multimedia services, social media and Internet trolls,” the resolution said. It stressed that “the Kremlin is funding political parties and other organizations within the EU” and condemned “Russian backing of anti-EU forces” such as the extreme right and populists.

To counteract anti-EU campaigns, MEPs suggest reinforcing the EU’s tiny “strategic communication” task force and investing more in awareness-raising, education, online and local media, investigative journalism and information literacy.

Zenon Zawada: The Kremlin wouldn’t be having the success it has enjoyed so far if not for mainstream political parties and mass media ignoring the conditions of economic and social deterioration that many average citizens of the West are confronting. As long as the working classes feel as though their standards of living are declining, they will continue to support fringe parties and candidates.

None of the mentioned countermeasures mention any restrictions on the activity of pro-Russian lobbyists. So we expect them to have continued success in convincing Westerners that Ukraine just isn’t worth the trouble it’s causing in international relations, which includes prospects for widened warfare.