Propaganda War between Russia and EU?

• 11.30.2016, 14:57
•  Europe

Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamist terrorist groups is growing, members of the European Parliament warn in a resolution voted on Wednesday.

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, EP reported.

An improvement in cooperation between the EU and NATO would also be beneficial, the resolution stated.

“As regards the Russian Federation, the situation is now clear. After its annexation of Crimea and aggression in the eastern part of Ukraine, many countries are fully aware of its disinformation and manipulation“, said Anna Fotyga, the former Polish foreign minister and author of the report. “This report, in the course of its preparation, was also a target of hostile propaganda."

“The Russian government is employing a wide range of tools, such as think tanks, multilingual TV stations, pseudo-news agencies and multimedia services, social media and internet trolls, to challenge democratic values, divide Europe, gather domestic support and create the perception of failed states in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood''.

Moscow’s been quick to react, with President Vladimir Putin claiming the move says a lot about democracy in the West.

“We are observing some – totally obvious – degradation – in the political sense of this word – of the perception of democracy in Western society. In this case, at the level of the European parliament,” he said, Euronews reports.

 As far as in July, senior European Commission official Jakub Kalenski warned that Russian propaganda had grown more powerful and had infiltrated all EU states, and said immediate action must be taken.

But many analysts now oppose to the resolution stating that Europe has always served an example of democratic values holder, where freedom of speech and press freedom are always guaranteed, and now it launches ''anti-propaganda'' against Russia which is quite improper considering European set of values.

It is no coincidence, however, that such a resolution has been adopted at a time when in a number of Western countries ''pro-Russian candidates'' won in the elections, who are ready to end the tension and restore ties with Russia.

Supporters of these people in turn find it necessary to cancel the sanctions against Russia, as they are useless and inappropriate.