Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia
Transnistria

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Arts and Culture

Economy

Politics

Security

Society

Coronavirus
X

Visual Stories

Audio
Interactive
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.
Russia, The Baltics, Ukraine

European Parliament Urges United Front on Russia

Jun 10, 2015

The European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on June 10 that assailed Russian aggression in Ukraine and appealed for European Union unity in the face of Kremlin policies aimed at dividing the continent.
 
The resolution, adopted by a 494-135 vote with 69 abstentions, urged the 28-member European Union to take steps to counter Russia’s vast propaganda apparatus, especially state-controlled television channels. In addition, the resolution called for broader transparency concerning foreign funding for politically related activities, including the creation of an EU-wide mechanism “to monitor financial, political or technical assistance provided by Russia to political parties and other organizations in the EU and to assess its [Moscow’s] influence over [European] political life and public opinion,” a European Parliament statement noted.
 
Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Lithuanian MEP who drafted the resolution, said the EU needs to come to grips with the fact that Russia’s current political course is inimical to European democratic values.
 
“The Russian leadership has put our [EU-Russian] relations at a crossroads,” the European Parliament statement quoted Landsbergis as saying. “A change in Russia can, and will come from within. Meanwhile we must send to the Russian leadership a strong message that we stand united with the victims of its aggression [i.e. Ukraine] and those who stand for the values the EU is founded on.”
 
In comments to the Baltic Times, Landsbergis suggested that a way to counter Russian propaganda would be by exposing Kremlin corrupt practices relating to energy exports to EU states.
 
To reduce Russia’s ability to use energy exports as geopolitical leverage, the European Parliament resolution called for the creation of an entity called the European Energy Union.
 
According to the statement, the European Parliament was expected on June 11 to consider a separate resolution on the security situation in the Black Sea Basin in the aftermath of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
 
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia joined the EU in 2004. The three were constituent republics of the Soviet Union prior to its collapse in 1991. Gabrielius Landsbergis is the grandson of Vytautas Landsbergis, the politician who led Lithuania’s independence drive in the early 1990s.

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Related

European court rules Russia responsible for crimes following 2008 war with Georgia
Central Asia vaccination plans underwhelm, but governments look unruffled
Here’s looking at EAEU: The year of integration

Popular

Kyrgyzstan: Japarov still stumbling toward coherent foreign policy
Chris Rickleton
Turkmenistan: Hands across the water
Akhal-Teke: A Turkmenistan Bulletin
Kazakhstan: Some savers get green light to raid pension pots
Almaz Kumenov

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2021