European Parliament condemns Russian ideology of ‘Russian world’ as tool to justify war

The European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Russia's use of disinformation to justify the war in Ukraine. 480 deputies voted in favour, 58 against, and 48 abstained.

In the resolution, MEPs rejected Russia's ‘historical claims’ against Ukraine as a means of justifying an illegal war, the EP website said. They also expressed concern over a plan by some social media to relax fact-checking and moderation rules, as this could help spread Russian disinformation campaigns. 

The European Parliament calls on the EU to improve coordination of efforts to counter Russian disinformation. In particular, to strengthen sanctions against Russian media. 

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk added that the document condemned the lack of accountability for the crimes of the Soviet regime, manipulation of history and glorification of totalitarianism.

He listed the key points of the resolution:

• ‘The European Parliament has clearly pointed to Russia's attempts to create a ‘cult of victory’, justifying totalitarianism, and denying responsibility for the crimes of the Soviet regime.
• Russia's aggression is recognised as a continuation of its imperialist policy: the document clearly names the Kremlin's crimes - from the war in Chechnya to the occupation of Crimea and the invasion of Donbas.
• The document condemns the use of historical revisionism by the Russians and the denial of Ukraine's national identity.
• The European Parliament called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied territories, the return of deportees, and the establishment of a tribunal to investigate crimes of aggression.

‘480 MEPs supported the resolution ‘Russia's disinformation and historical falsification to justify its war of aggression against Ukraine’, which condemns the imperialist ideology of the temporary Russian regime (Russkiy mir, as the document says). The MEPs supported the initiative in response to an appeal from the Verkhovna Rada,’ commented Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, chairman of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech.