EU Parliament Largest Faction Accuses Russia of Undermining European Project

The European People’s Party (EPP), the leading faction in the European Parliament, adopted a resolution accusing Russia of undermining European liberal values and democracy via its alleged "disinformation campaigns" and support for anti-EU movements.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The resolution adopted on Wednesday at the ongoing EPP's annual congress in the Maltese capital of Valletta added that Moscow's efforts to "distort facts, manipulate reality, foster distrust in the democratic process" were unacceptable and included a provision that cyberthreats posed by Russia had significantly exceeded the ones from China.

"EU Member States are facing an unprecedented threat to their democratic societies. Russian propaganda, disinformation campaigns and continuous support for anti-European political forces are undermining the European project, transatlantic cooperation and Western democracies in general: in terms of liberal values, political independence and sovereignty," the resolution dubbed "Russian disinformation undermining Western democracy" read.

In November 2016, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution to countering alleged Russian anti-EU propaganda and media. The resolution accuses the Kremlin of funding anti-EU political parties and movements inside the bloc.

The EU Parliament's resolution also said that such media as Sputnik and RT broadcasters posed a danger to European unity and called for extra European Commission funding for counter-propaganda projects.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the adoption of the resolution, stressed that it indicated an apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in those Western societies.

Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia avoided taking actions that could be interpreted as meddling in the election process in other countries while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the US National Interest magazine Thursday that no evidence existed that could possibly implicate Russia in interfering in the internal affairs of the United States or European countries.