MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster. As many as 304 voted in favor the document, 179 voted against and 208 abstained. With a total of 691 officials taking part in the vote, less than half supported the resolution.
"It is strange that this resolution is directed against media outlets whose position is fundamentally different from the public opinion which we are used to see in other media outlets … Aside from this, if these media outlets broadcast for a huge audience, it seems as if this is censorship. This is why I do not think this is some isolated incident that occurred inadvertently," Alfaro said.
Sputnik responded to adoption of the resolution by calling the move a direct violation of media freedom and human rights, while Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the matter by pointing out that the document indicates a degradation of democracy in the West. Praising Sputnik and RT for their work, the president expressed hope that real media restrictions would not follow.
