Resolution Against Russian Media Shows West Loses Information Monopoly - Senator

European Parliament's resolution to counter Russian media outlets is creating a myth about a Russian information threat and shows that western media has lost its monopoly position in the global media space, Alexei Pushkov, a member of Russia's Federation Council, said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster. Authors of the document equate counteracting Russia with the resistance to Daesh terrorist group and call on EU member states to boost financing counter-propaganda projects.

"European Parliament's resolution is showing panic among the biggest part of EU parliamentarians amid the loss of information monopoly, which the western media possessed until recently. This proves that despite talks about freedom of speech and free access to information, the majority of EU parliamentarians are pathologically afraid of information rivalry, and not ready for it," Pushkov told reporters.

According to Pushkov, EU liberal elite is trying to whip up the myth about Russian media threat instead of solving real challenges and correcting its own failures.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, when commenting on the adoption of the resolution, congratulated RT and Sputnik journalists for effective work and stressed that this resolution indicated apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in the Western society. Putin also expressed hope that common sense would prevail and that there would be no actual restrictions against the Russian media.