BRUSSELS: In three weeks, when the European Union will hold its parliamentary elections, it has banned four more Russian media outlets for engaging in propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine and disinformation. These include Voice of Europe as well as RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta which are all said to be Kremlin controlled.The EU explained that these four organizations have a special focus on ‘European political parties especially during election periods.’
Last month, Belgium opened an inquiry into alleged Russian interference in its country’s European elections of June 2019, stating that its intelligence agency had confirmed a network that seeks to erode backing for Ukraine.
The Czech Republic is implementing sanctions against several citizens after discovering there a pro-Russian influence operation. According to accusations, they approached MEPs and offered them money in exchange for promoting Russian propaganda.
Several other outlets including Sputnik and Russia Today have been suspended by the EU from February 2022 when the war started.
