“Don’t they realize that by taking such small steps, related to unwillingness to listen to another opinion, states turn into blind dictatorships and start wars, which no one needs,” Simonyan told Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
Earlier in the day, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution based on the report “EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties”, countering Russian media outlets, such as Sputnik and RT. Out of 691 lawmakers taking part in the vote, 304 voted in favor of the resolution, 179 voted against it, and 208 abstained. Therefore, less than half of the lawmakers supported the resolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, when commenting on the adoption of the resolution, congratulated RT and Sputnik journalists for an effective work and stressed that this resolution indicated apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in the Western society. Putin also expressed hope that the common sense would prevail and that there would be no actual restrictions against the Russian media.
