The Council of the European Union has suspended four more major Russian propaganda outlets, according to a statement posted on May 17.
Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta were recognized as outlets that spread Russian propaganda and support the war against Ukraine.
Czechia's government announced this March that it uncovered a Moscow-financed propaganda network linked to Ukrainian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, which used Voice of Europe to spread disinformation.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta and RIA Novosti are both Russian state-owned outlets, and Izvestiya is state-controlled.
The suspended outlets and their staff will not be yet prohibited from carrying out other activities in the EU than broadcasting, such as research or interviews, due to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the statement read.
Russia conducts a well-documented and systematic international media campaign of information manipulation in order to distort facts to justify the war in Ukraine and destabilize neighboring countries and the EU member states, according to the statement.
The Council also said that Russian propaganda and information manipulation have repeatedly targeted Ukraine, its citizens, and authorities, as well as the European political parties, asylum seekers, minorities' representatives, and the operation of democratic institutions in the EU.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova previously threatened that there would be countermeasures impacting Western media operating in Russia.
"If these measures are taken against the Russian media, Russian journalists, then, despite the fact that Western correspondents will not want to, they will also have to feel our retaliatory measures," Zakharova said.
The EU already banned several of the largest Russian state propaganda outlets, such as RT and Sputnik, in February 2022.
Martin Fornusek
