Stenograma dezbaterilor

Miercuri, 5 octombrie 2022 - Strasbourg

6. Contracararea propagandei antieuropene și antiucrainene a apropiaților lui Putin din Europa (dezbatere pe o temă de actualitate)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Bekämpfung der von Putins europäischen Freunden lancierten antieuropäischen und antiukrainischen Propaganda (2022/2862(RSP)).

Ich möchte alle Mitglieder darauf hinweisen, dass es bei dieser Aussprache keine spontanten Wortmeldungen gibt und dass keine blauen Karten akzeptiert werden.

  Stéphane Séjourné, auteur. – Monsieur le Président, chers collègues, ce week-end, le président d’une puissance nucléaire nous a désignés comme ennemis. Le président de Russie unie, le parti de Poutine, a directement menacé d’utiliser des armes contre les villes européennes. Des députés de ce même parti, membres du parlement russe, ont appelé à des génocides, à des viols, à des enlèvements d’enfants ukrainiens. Vladimir Poutine, ses alliés et son parti veulent nous détruire, détruire nos valeurs, détruire notre modèle européen, détruire notre démocratie et détruire nos droits – les droits des minorités, celui des enfants, celui des femmes. Ils le disent, ils l’assument: ils détestent ce que nous sommes – une société d’hommes et de femmes libres et en sécurité.

Vladimir Poutine n’a pas déclaré la guerre qu’à l’Ukraine, il a aussi déclaré la guerre à la démocratie. Pourtant, en Europe, il y a des hommes et des femmes politiques qui continuent à le soutenir. L’extrême gauche et l’extrême droite européennes répètent les éléments de langage du Kremlin depuis maintenant quelques mois. Un jour l’OTAN est l’agresseur, un autre jour la Crimée a toujours été russe. En ce moment, la ritournelle, c’est: les sanctions ne marchent pas. Je le dis à l’extrême droite de l’hémicycle: comment osez-vous aujourd’hui demander la fin des sanctions? Comment osez-vous servir les arguments que nous entendons à la télévision d’État russe toute la journée? À l’heure actuelle la Russie ne produit plus de technologies de pointe, et son PIB est en chute libre – il s’agit de la plus importante baisse qu’il ait connue depuis la fin de l’Union soviétique.

Vous préférez souvent surfer sur la souffrance sociale et économique des Européens, mais cette souffrance, elle est causée par la guerre de Poutine, pas par les sanctions. Et nous, nous y répondons, d’ailleurs, ici, dans cet hémicycle, et nous y répondons en Européens: en réduisant nos dépendances, en abaissant les factures des Européens, mais également en partageant, dans cet hémicycle, nos votes – ce que, par vos votes, ici même vous rejetez.

La question que je me pose, chers collègues, est la question centrale que chacun et chacune d’entre vous devrait d’ailleurs se poser: pourquoi faites-vous cela? Mesdames et Messieurs les membres du Rassemblement national, de la Lega, du Fidesz: pourquoi vouloir lever les sanctions contre la Russie? Cela n’a aucun sens; nous devrions plutôt tous, en Européens, être derrière les Ukrainiens, derrière le peuple ukrainien, qui, d’ailleurs, a fait le choix souverain d’avancer vers l’Europe. Quand on se réclame souverainiste et que la souveraineté est une valeur du parti que l’on représente, on soutient le peuple ukrainien.

Je n’ai que deux hypothèses, chers collègues: la première – la seule, potentiellement –, c’est – peut-être – les valises de billets, la seconde étant le soutien plein et entier au projet politique de Poutine. La première hypothèse mérite d’être creusée. Nous l’avons déjà évoquée dans cet hémicycle: plus de 300 millions d’euros auraient été investis par l’État russe et par des partis politiques russes dans des partis politiques européens. Certains, d’ailleurs, tels que la Lega, ont encore des accords avec le parti de Vladimir Poutine. Quant à Viktor Orban, il visite plus Moscou que Bruxelles. En tout cas, si vous êtes cohérents, vous qui revendiquez être les patriotes et les souverainistes, vous qui revendiquez parfois être les défenseurs d’une civilisation et d’un mode de vie européens, sachez que vous avez fait le choix inverse. L’Europe ou Poutine? Vous avez choisi Poutine…

Chers collègues, je me tourne aussi, malheureusement, vers l’extrême gauche de cet hémicycle: pourquoi refuser les armes à l’Ukraine? Quand on est pour l’émancipation des peuples, quand on est pour l’indépendance et l’autonomie des peuples, on est avec l’Ukraine. Mais, souvent, l’antiaméricanisme de l’extrême gauche se révèle être plus fort que la défense des opprimés.

Je m’adresse même au centre de cet hémicycle, Monsieur le Commissaire, à notre propre camp, celui des pro-Européens: pourquoi Silvio Berlusconi est-il encore membre du PPE, après ses déclarations hallucinantes sur l’Ukraine? Pourquoi tant de dirigeants bulgares et slovaques aux propositions prorusses se disent-ils encore socialistes? Et pourquoi nos institutions, Monsieur le Commissaire, continuent-elles de donner de l’argent à la Serbie de Vučić, lui aussi membre du PPE?

Alors, chers collègues, je n’irai pas plus loin: il faudra une enquête internationale sur les 300 millions d’euros. Je conclus, Monsieur le Président: nous, citoyens, devons savoir mettre une barrière en travers des liens qui existent entre ces partis politiques. C’est pour cela que mon groupe politique a voulu ce débat, pour clarifier la position et les propositions des uns et des autres dans cet hémicycle.

  Mikuláš Bek, President-in-Office of the Council. – Mr President, honourable Members, Commissioner, the issue of a healthy information ecosystem in Europe, free from intentional and concerted attempts to distort it, is always an important topic. Given the current international events surrounding our daily lives, today’s debate is even more relevant, and I would like to thank you for inviting the Council to take part.

In short, any false narratives and foreign information manipulation and interference in our democracies and our democratic discourses cannot and should not be tolerated. Our societies deserve to be free from any hostile influence and be able to make their own properly informed decisions, whether it is on health matters, political parties they choose to vote for, or on global events that directly or indirectly impact their lives.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, we see that there are active attempts to manipulate the hearts and minds of European citizens. Sometimes these attempts are broader in scale. Sometimes they are more focused on certain European countries and vulnerable minorities within them. But they are undoubtedly present, and they are only getting more and more daring and audacious.

Russian disinformation outlets aim at polarising our societies. They do that by combining pro-Kremlin narratives with content on the divisive subjects that fringe movements in Europe focus on: migration, anti-vaccine sentiment and climate change scepticism, for instance.

Such narratives are designed to misinform, mislead and, most importantly, to be divisive. This is why the Council has clearly stated from the outset of the war that such hostile, opportunistic and dangerous activities will not be tolerated, that our people must be protected from attempts to distort reality.

As a result, we introduced restrictive measures against Russia-associated outlets conducting disinformation and information manipulation actions. And yet, despite our early actions, we must prepare for the long and difficult road ahead of us.

There is no silver bullet from complex attempts to interfere in our democracies and we must work on multiple fronts to continue to defend our values and principles.

The Council closely follows new initiatives by the Commission in this area and is actively involved in the implementation of existing ones, such as the strengthened code of practice against disinformation.

We look forward to even more ambitious actions based on the ‘whole of society’ approach, as we have to be all together in this fight against propaganda and information manipulation.

I want to repeat again that any interference in our political and democratic processes is unacceptable, particularly in the current geopolitical climate and also in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections.

Therefore, the Council and the Czech Presidency are fully committed to the development of the EU hybrid toolbox, as well as in establishing the toolbox to counter foreign information and manipulation that will make our European response stronger and more coordinated. That will make us more resilient and the hostile powers less successful in their actions.

At the same time, the Czech Presidency is actively engaged in the implementation of the European Democracy Action Plan, which aims at building a more resilient public sphere in our societies.

I would like to underline in particular, the negotiations we launched last week with the European Parliament on the regulation on the statute and financing of political parties and foundations. We hope to conclude these negotiations successfully by the end of the year and thus adopt EU legislation that will increase the transparency of political parties while reinforcing our capacity to counter foreign interference. I count on your support and engagement towards this objective. Thank you very much once again for your attention.

  Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, Minister, there can be a no more timely and more important debate than the one we’re having today. And I would like to congratulate President Séjourné of the Renew Group for making sure this debate happens.

I think the vast majority of all of us feel very strongly that we need to say loudly no to war propaganda and disinformation, to say no to bullies blackmailing households, to those who use energy as a gunshot.

Dear friends, honourable Members, disinformation and war propaganda was used to pave the way for Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and continues to fuel Russia’s military aggression. Various disinformation actors are looking now for a transition from the gains of the pandemic to the lies and myths around the war in Ukraine.

The spectacles of the so-called referenda, accompanied by a large volume of disinformation, is a method straight from the Kremlin’s playbook, used to illegally annex the territories of its neighbours. This is exactly the same pattern we have seen in Crimea back in 2014.

We have also seen the same pattern consecutively within the European Union, where we find numerous indications on opportunists and wannabes in several of our Member States, national politicians, members of parliaments, and clearly journalists and media are columnists. We have seen it all. Russian diplomats expelled from Athens some years ago, in Sofia a few months ago. Media tycoons clearly trying to impose gonzo networks and muppet journalism in our capitals.

We read reports about Kyiv allegedly falling in the first three days of the war. We saw TV reports of dead bodies in the Bucha massacre allegedly moving. And we saw lies published on bombing innocent pregnant women in a maternity hospital, which apparently did not exist. There are no riddles or enigmas on all of this. Russian propaganda penetrates our societies through chancers and oligarch rubles on our screens, on our newspapers, and in our public space.

Let’s put it in a rather simple way: Russian disinformation and propaganda is targeting both European and international audiences in order to undermine the democratic West’s support to Ukraine and vilify our Ukrainian partners. And this is crucial within our Union and our closest friends and allies as, for instance, in the Western Balkans, where I am visiting these days.

This is our moment now as Europeans to refute this propaganda, to defend and stand for the truth and strike back. As seen by our recent reports on EU DisinfoLab and from Facebook, by impersonating European media outlets using proxies online and using other manipulative behaviour, Russia is targeting now Europeans directly with apocalyptic messages about impending the winter without heating and accusing EU sanctions of growing inflation and energy bills.

Fighting online disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference is now a key priority not only for the Commission but, I think, for our institutions as a whole. We now have the code of practice of disinformation, which we strengthened this year, and this is the centrepiece of our efforts.

Since the beginning of the war, the Commission has been monitoring through regular meetings the platform’s actions to address directly Russian propaganda. The tech companies, signatories of the code of practice, are implementing our sanctions and are taking important steps together with us to curb the spread of propaganda and harmful disinformation, including the closing of many accounts, demotion of this information, or stepping up cooperation with fact-checkers.

The European Digital Media Observatory and its national hubs have also been instrumental in this fight. By focusing our activities on Ukraine over the last few months, the collaboration of EU fact-checkers and academic researchers has decreased the capacity of our attackers and has increased our ability of detecting, analysing and exposing disinformation and war-related campaigns.

The Observatory’s specific task force on the war has identified more than 1 600 disinformation instances related to the war through fact checks and issued reports and investigations on both emerging and trending narratives. We will continue to build on this valuable expertise, expanding the coverage of the Observatory activities to 100% of the EU population, as well as in the context of the code’s monitoring and exchange with technology platforms.

Honourable Members, we have imposed as a Union the biggest and deepest sanctions packages in our history, including against notorious figures directly involved in disinformation. We have even sanctioned for the first time ever the broadcasting of Russian media such as Russia Today and Sputnik, as they were clearly propaganda machines. We have curbed the activity of the Kremlin’s weapons of mass deception, not only with full respect with fundamental rights and freedoms, but in order precisely to protect these fundamental rights and freedoms.

We are also very actively raising awareness about pro-Kremlin disinformation via our EUvsDisinfo website and with the help of our delegations around the world. We cooperate closely with the StratCom Centre, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, supporting civil society and media in this country. And when the war is over, believe me, there will be many pilgrimages in Kyiv to see precisely how successful this collaboration has been.

And building on the action plan against disinformation and the European democracy action plan, as confirmed lately by the strategic compass, we have put in place very tangible, specific measures to address foreign information and manipulation. We have even a dedicated toolbox, the FIMI toolbox, to deal with this challenge. And we have just announced a defence of democracy package to further broaden our appeal, our capacity to resist against foreign interference.

Finally, in this, as the minister just said, we need to complete the picture of fighting disinformation and foreign hostile interference with the approval of our proposals on political advertising and on the funding of European political parties and foundations. We need to work in earnest and swiftly to have agreements on this emblematic and meaningful piece of legislation.

And the final point. We have indeed seen reports on the United States’ findings concerning the 300 million illegal financing by Russia within the European Union. Let me assure you that we are looking forward to receive this information and we will get to the bottom of it.

  Vladimír Bilčík, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, Mr Vice—President, Minister, colleagues, Russia deliberately sparks the worst in us and amplifies it for political gain. It weaponises our differences, undermines free discourse and seeks to destroy our democracy. While we still do have physical borders, with the rise of social platforms and hostile domestic actors readily willing to spread foreign state propaganda from both extreme left and extreme right, European information space is more exposed than ever. Fabricated lies and political propaganda that we tolerated for years, and that have eaten away at our democratic institutions such as quality public media, are no longer acceptable. We must take concrete measures to fight back.

I am proud that this House has created a body with precisely this in mind – our special ING2 committee, which diligently listens to world—renowned experts and formulates concrete proposals for action against disinformation. We know exactly what to do.

We stand against an enemy who uses manipulation as a strategic tool. We need to defend our institutions, our own pillars of security, our allies. We must cooperate better and faster than any time before. We need more resources. We cannot be dependent only on a few dozen experts – not against the enemy who uses the whole state apparatus to attack us and our values. We must support strong independent media, and demand from social platforms not to amplify lies. We need to support our reliable allies through EU enlargement and strong cooperation with like—minded partners.

We must not only free Ukrainian land from Putin. We must also free people’s minds and protect our citizens.

VORSITZ: RAINER WIELAND
Vizepräsident

  Pierfrancesco Majorino, a nome del gruppo S&D. – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, la guerra di Putin non è combattuta solo sul campo. Esiste infatti anche una guerra giocata sul terreno della comunicazione e della propaganda, che passa evidentemente attraverso una massiccia disinformazione e si nutre di complicità politiche più o meno evidenti, complicità che dobbiamo avere il coraggio di indicare e smascherare.

La scorsa settimana – lo cito anch'io solo a titolo di esempio – Meta ha annunciato di aver scoperto e bloccato una rete di 1 600 account che alimentavano notizie false attraverso 60 siti, copia di alcuni tra i più prestigiosi quotidiani occidentali. Probabilmente la rete più grande e complessa collegata alla Russia mai identificata dall'inizio dell'invasione dell'Ucraina.

Questo è purtroppo solo un frammento di quello che è effettivamente oggi in campo. Già da tempo questo Parlamento ha maturato la consapevolezza rispetto ai tanti tentativi di potenze straniere di interferire e destabilizzare la nostra democrazia. La nostra commissione speciale sulle interferenze straniere nei processi democratici dell'Unione ha indicato con chiarezza il problema e con la sua relazione dello scorso 9 marzo ha chiesto di mettere in campo azioni e strumenti forti, in particolare sulla trasparenza e il controllo dei fondi provenienti dall'estero, sul ruolo di lobby più o meno occulte, sull'uso delle piattaforme come veicolo privilegiato per disinformazione e interferenze.

È stato particolarmente significativo che in quest'Aula la Presidente von der Leyen, nel suo ultimo discorso sullo Stato dell'Unione, abbia sottolineato tutto ciò, abbia sottolineato l'importanza delle azioni che si possono mettere in campo sulle minacce e i pericoli che viviamo. Un elemento importante di consapevolezza politica al quale però devono tuttavia far seguito adesso misure nette, chiare, perché non c'è davvero altro tempo da perdere sul terreno della lotta alle interferenze.

Per combattere la guerra alla disinformazione ovviamente non dobbiamo mettere in campo un Ministero della verità o sperare di sopprimere il dissenso, che fa parte della normale dialettica democratica – grazie al cielo non siamo come gli altri –, ma abbiamo bisogno di strumenti che garantiscano un'informazione libera, indipendente e professionale, che è un elemento essenziale per la nostra democrazia.

Dobbiamo anche dirci che chi sa deve parlare e che vengano resi pubblici gli elenchi emersi da fonti statunitensi di quei politici europei che hanno preso denaro russo o hanno alimentato una complicità fatta di scambi e favori con l'entourage di Putin. Cito anch'io – lo ha già fatto l'onorevole Séjourné – le frasi incredibili di Berlusconi, il caso Salvini, i casi della destra più radicale in Francia e Germania. Tutte cose rispetto a cui servono verità e risposte nette.

  Guy Verhofstadt, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Mr President, I think that we can be very honest about this: the Russians are losing the war on the battlefield, but the Russians are not losing the propaganda war. They are winning the propaganda war.

If you look to our social media for the moment, what you see is more and more posts echoing the narrative of the Kremlin. And the narrative of the Kremlin is that this is a war that was started by us to punish Russia. And that everything that is happening with the energy crisis today is not the consequence of the war, but the consequence of the sanctions and the measures we are taking.

And I know that there is an aid package – Mr Schinas, you have said here everything that needs to be done, but in the aid package, there is nothing about that. In the aid package is a package where we increase the sanctions against Russian individuals from 1232 to 1262, 30 more, mainly people who are involved in the referenda in eastern and south Ukraine. But nearly nothing about the celebrities, the influencers, the opinion leaders, the propagandists.

Already on 29 June we sent, together with the Navalny Foundation, a list of 135 people that are the core of the propaganda machine of Putin to the External Action Service. And you know how many have been sanctioned? Two of them! And since the aid package, four more. We are at six now of this 135. One is Dugin, for evident reasons, and three musicians, three singers. That is what we have done, six in total.

So my question is: if it is all true, what you are saying, why are the Commission and the Council not going after the core of the propaganda machine, tackling the 135 people in Russia?

And secondly, if we talk about countering Putin, and the Putin propaganda machine inside our own European Union, let us not make agreements, government agreements and government coalitions with the cheerleaders of Putin like Mr Salvini or Mr Berlusconi even. But Mr Salvini was even better with his T-shirt on the Kremlin showing his support for Putin.

Well, you are from the PPE I think, Mr Schinas, maybe it’s a good moment now to say to your friends in the PPE, not to make a coalition agreement with these cheerleaders of Putin in Italy.

  Markéta Gregorová, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, dear colleagues, Commissioner, Minister, two interesting reports came out recently. One is from a Europe—based NGO, another one is from the company Meta, and they are together painting quite an ominous picture of how we are not tackling Russia’s propaganda.

First, let’s talk about Google and Twitter. There are thousands of tweets, YouTube videos and posts flagged as Russian propaganda, and the companies have grown really less responsive to the requests to remove such content. According to Ukraine’s StratCom, they are avoiding even taking their calls or responding to emails for several months.

Meta’s report reveals quite horrifying numbers: USD 105 000 spent on anti—Ukraine propaganda, 60-plus websites impersonating European news organisations and a network of amplifying fake social media accounts.

We know there are technical ways to limit the impacts of this online war. But let’s understand one thing: this hydra has more heads than we can cut off only by depending on technical solutions and, therefore, these companies. We see now that if we leave the sole responsibility on these private companies, they might start lacking the will to fight or, of course, the means to fight.

They are also not democratically elected. We are the ones who bear the responsibility over the security of our citizens. We don’t need any more hybrid tools, voluntary codes and vague promises. We need a proper legislation with a sanctions system right now. You have the basics in our INGE report, and I trust you can build on it quickly.

  Gunnar Beck, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Dieses Parlament will die angeblich russische, sogenannte antieuropäische und antiukrainische Propaganda bekämpfen. Dies wirft unter anderem folgende Frage auf: Wann ist Kritik an der EU und der ukrainischen Regierung antieuropäische und antiukrainische Propaganda?

Hier drei Fakten und drei Fragen für Sie. Erstens: Radek Sikorski, ehemaliger polnischer Außen- und Verteidigungsminister und derzeit Mitglied dieses Hauses, hat per Twitter den USA für die Sabotage der Nord-Stream-Pipelines ausdrücklich gedankt. Er und seine Frau haben engste Verbindungen zum Weißen Haus und zur Biden-Administration. Glauben Sie wirklich, Herr Sikorski verbreite antiukrainische Propaganda oder sei von Russland bezahlt worden? Und was wäre denn, hätte er andere Geldgeber?

Zweitens: Das Europäische Parlament will zu Recht Geldwäsche und Steuerhinterziehung eindämmen. Doch der ukrainische Präsident Selenskyj hat vom Oligarchen Kolomojskyj 41 Millionen USD auf Offshore-Konten erhalten. Das wissen wir aus den „Pandora Papers“, die geheime Offshore-Konten von 35 Regierungschefs offenlegen. Sind die Pandora Papers deshalb antiukrainische Propaganda?

Drittens: Laut dem Korruptionswahrnehmungsindex von Transparency International ist die Ukraine mit Abstand das korrupteste Land in Europa. Ist dies antiukrainische russische Propaganda?

All diese Fakten werden von westlichen Regierungen und staatsnahen Medien verschwiegen. Mir scheint, unser Problem ist eher staatsfinanzierte Pro-EU-Meinungsmache als russische EU-Kritik oder antiukrainische Propaganda.

  Beata Szydło, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Panie Przewodniczący! Szanowny Panie Komisarzu! Szanowni Państwo! To jest bardzo ważna debata, jak już tutaj zostało powiedziane, i mam nadzieję, że ona jest szczera i że rzeczywiście chcemy skutecznie walczyć z propagandą Putina i niszczeniem tego, co jest najcenniejsze: jedności i solidarności Unii Europejskiej. Bo dzisiaj w obliczu wojny na Ukrainie powinniśmy być właśnie zjednoczeni i powinniśmy być solidarni. Jednym z elementów tego jest właśnie walka z dezinformacją i propagandą.

Ale, Szanowni Państwo, żebyśmy to mogli zrobić skutecznie i rzeczywiście szczerze, to trzeba odpowiedzieć sobie, również tutaj w tej Izbie, na kilka pytań – ponieważ Putin destabilizował sytuację w Unii Europejskiej już od dawna i było na to przyzwolenie. I były decyzje, które tutaj również zapadały, które pozwalały mu na takie działania dotyczące chociażby polityki energetycznej, przyzwalające na budowę Nord Stream 1, potem Nord Stream 2, przyzwalające na destabilizowanie całego systemu energetyki i gospodarki Unii Europejskiej. Te decyzje zapadały również tutaj i to kraje Unii Europejskiej, rządy Unii Europejskiej popierały takie działania.

Nie mówię tego po to, żeby Państwu to wyrzucać, ale mówię po to, żeby była wreszcie refleksja i żebyśmy szczerze ze sobą rozmawiali. Bo jak rozumieć słowa prominentnego polityka Platformy Obywatelskiej, członka PPE, który był też kiedyś ministrem spraw zagranicznych w polskim rządzie – była tu przed momentem również o tym mowa – jeżeli on wypisuje na Twitterze takie rzeczy, które są właśnie elementem działającym na rzecz Putina i nie ma żadnej reakcji ze strony jego grupy politycznej? Jak rozumieć telefony prezydenta Francji, który w czasie, kiedy Ukraina krwawiła i krwawi, cały czas podtrzymywał dialog z Putinem? Jak rozumieć wiele innych decyzji polityków, którzy nie chcieli wspierać od razu bardzo zdecydowanie i mocno – mimo apeli na przykład rządu Polski – Ukrainy, wysyłać broni na Ukrainę? A więc jeżeli rozmawiamy o tym, że czas skończyć z tą polityką wspierającą Putina, to bądźmy naprawdę szczerzy i skuteczni.

  Manu Pineda, en nombre del Grupo The Left. – Señor presidente, hoy, rescatando una propuesta del Partido Popular Europeo, debatimos aquí sobre la propaganda rusa y antieuropea.

Pero, permítanme que antes de entrar a poner en valor la libertad de expresión y la pluralidad les aclare algo: no hay mayor fuente de propaganda rusa que la que el Partido Popular Europeo posibilita al blanquear a los partidos de extrema derecha y ponerles la alfombra roja para que gobiernen.

Y no hay mejor caja de resonancia para la propaganda antieuropea que el empobrecimiento al que se enfrentan las clases populares europeas, que ven cómo sus necesidades básicas, como la energía o los alimentos, tienen ahora precio de productos de lujo.

Cerrar los medios de comunicación; encarcelar a periodista; intentar imponer el belicismo como discurso único; acallar, perseguir políticamente o tachar de pro-Putin o de antieuropeos a quienes no apoyan la escalada de la guerra o defienden la diplomacia y el diálogo... Todo esto, créanme, no tiene nada que ver con luchar contra la propaganda, sino con coartar peligrosamente la libertad de expresión y la pluralidad.

Pablo González es un periodista vasco que estaba cubriendo el conflicto para varios medios españoles cuando fue detenido en Polonia. No hacía propaganda rusa, pero tampoco pro-OTAN. Quizá ahí reside parte del problema. Lleva más de siete meses encarcelado. Sin juicio, sin acusación formalizada, incomunicado, bajo un régimen de encarcelamiento propio de un Estado totalitario, y prorrogándose sin fecha definitiva una «prisión preventiva».

En guerra o en paz encarcelar preventivamente al periodismo y la libertad informativa no es luchar contra la propaganda, sino, más bien, abonar el terreno para que esta haga su efecto.

Aprovecho para exigir desde aquí, desde el Parlamento Europeo, la inmediata puesta en libertad de Pablo González y el respeto al derecho a la información y a la libertad de prensa.

  Laura Ferrara (NI). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, dal 2014 la Russia ha trasferito segretamente fiumi di denaro a partiti, associazioni e soggetti di diversi paesi per creare una rete di influenza e consenso. Anche il Parlamento europeo si è occupato dei rapporti tra il Cremlino e forze politiche europee, su cui pretendiamo maggiore approfondimento e chiarezza. Questo quadro fa comprendere le minacce rappresentate dalle attività di coloro che in Europa amplificano il sistema propagandistico di regimi autoritari come quello di Putin.

Fake news e disinformazione online sono pericolosi strumenti funzionali alle politiche di guerra per minare il sostegno all'Ucraina, orientare l'opinione pubblica e interferire nei processi democratici. Occorrono maggiori sforzi per contrastare le forme di finanziamento occulte provenienti da regimi stranieri, per rafforzare le pratiche di fact-checking e la cooperazione delle piattaforme dei social media con le autorità.

La sicurezza dell'Europa dipende dalla capacità di difendersi dalle ingerenze straniere, ma soprattutto da un inevitabile processo di pace a cui tutta l'Unione deve tendere senza se e senza ma.

  Sandra Kalniete (PPE). – Godātais sēdes vadītāj! Kolēģi! Krievijas iebrukums Ukrainā nav tikai militāro spēku sadursme. Tas ir arī informācijas karš. Nesen dezinformācijas laboratorija publicēja pētījumu par Kremļa ietekmes operāciju tīklu, kas kopš maija izplata prokrievisku un pret Ukrainu vērstu informāciju Vācijā, Francijā, Itālijā, Ukrainā, Latvijā un Apvienotajā Karalistē.

Nesenais Valsts departamenta ziņojums atklāj, ka kopš 2014. gada Kremlis ir ieguldījis 300 miljonus dolāru politisko partiju un politiķu finansēšanā vairāk nekā 20 valstīs. Maskava velta arvien lielākus resursus Eiropas valstu demokrātisko sistēmu graušanai un nacionālās politikas ietekmēšanai, atbalstot sev labvēlīgus kandidātus vēlēšanās un iegūstot ietekmi politisko partiju iekšienē.

Abi šie ziņojumi apstiprina, ka Krievija izvērš pret mums masīvu informācijas karu. Putina sabiedroto ekonomiskā un politiskā ietekme Eiropā saindē mūsu demokrātiju, šķeļ sabiedrību un attālina uzvaru karā.

Kolēģi, mums ir jāizveido spēcīga Eiropas Savienības struktūra hibrīddraudu novēršanai, kā arī jāstiprina mūsu institūciju kapacitāte un jāpaplašina to pilnvaras, lai identificētu un sauktu pie atbildības Putina sabiedrotos pašu mājās. Eiropas Savienības digitālā ekosistēma ir jāuzlabo, tajā iekļaujot sankcijas pret ļaunprātīgu dezinformācijas operāciju autoriem un izpildītājiem. To es sagaidu no solītā Eiropas Demokrātijas aizsardzības pakta.

  Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D). – Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Vice-président, Monsieur le Ministre, chers collègues, ils se disent patriotes et servent un tyran étranger. Ils s'appellent les chercheurs de la vérité et relaient les fake news les plus grossières. Ils se réclament d'Orwell et vident les mots de leur substance, abolissent le principe de non-contradiction. Ils, ce sont les supplétifs numériques, politiques, médiatiques de Poutine. Ils ne sont pas à Kherson ou à Donetsk. Non, ils sont dans leur salon ou sur nos plateaux de télévision. Mais ils participent eux aussi à l'effort de guerre russe en niant ses crimes et en relayant ses mensonges. Ils sont souvent d'extrême droite, comme Matteo Salvini ou Marine Le Pen, mais pas toujours. Ils viennent parfois aussi de la gauche, comme Ségolène Royal, ou de la droite comme Silvio Berlusconi. En temps de paix, ce sont des menteurs ou des idiots utiles. En temps de guerre, ce sont des complices de l'ennemi.

Chers collègues, disons-le enfin clairement, cette guerre n'a pas commencé le 24 février 2022 et elle ne se limite pas aux frontières de l'Ukraine. Cette guerre ne vise pas simplement Kiev, Kharkiv ou Kherson. Cette guerre dite hybride vise nos démocraties. Depuis de longues années, le régime russe mène une guerre hybride contre nos démocraties en jouant sur leur vulnérabilité, en cherchant d'un côté à affaiblir leurs défenses immunitaires via la corruption de leurs élites et de l'autre à les plonger dans le chaos en soutenant populistes et complotistes.

Au sein de la commission spéciale sur les ingérences étrangères que j'ai l'honneur de présider, nous avons analysé, disséqué cette guerre que nos dirigeants n'ont longtemps pas voulu voir. Cette guerre abolit les différences entre le virtuel et le réel, le dedans et le dehors, la politique étrangère et la politique intérieure. Il est temps de se hisser au niveau du péril qui nous fait face.

Alors que l'UE estimait, avant l'invasion de l'Ukraine, le financement russe de la désinformation à 1 milliard d'euros et les ressources humaines mobilisées à plus d'un millier de pleins temps, l'Union, elle, ne dispose actuellement que d'un budget de 11 millions d'euros et de 41 agents pour répondre à cette menace. Nous devons investir massivement dans la veille, la détection, la riposte aux attaques venant de Russie. Prenons au mot la présidente de la Commission devant le Parlement. Nous ne laisserons aucun cheval de Troie lancé par une autocratie attaquer nos démocraties de l'intérieur.

Il faut agir maintenant. Nous n'avons pas le choix. Nous n'avons pas le droit d'offrir à Poutine la victoire chez nous que les Ukrainiens lui refusent chez eux. L'enjeu n'est pas simplement la liberté de l'Ukraine, c'est la nôtre.

  Nathalie Loiseau (Renew). – Monsieur le Président, on a déjà beaucoup parlé des collaborateurs qui, en Europe et jusque dans ce Parlement – on en a eu un exemple tout à l'heure – déroulent la propagande d'un président russe qui nous est ouvertement hostile. Je voudrais aujourd'hui, non pas me répéter, mais émettre des propositions. Commençons par ceux des Européens, car il y en a, qui ont servi de caution au simulacre de référendum en s'improvisant observateurs d'une mascarade. Je propose qu'ils fassent l'objet de sanctions européennes, tout comme les organisateurs de ces parodies électorales.

Deuxièmement, on s'est réjoui de la suspension de RT et de Spoutnik en Europe, mais nombre de faux experts inondent nos plateaux sans dire leurs liens avec la Russie. L'information est un bien trop précieux pour qu'on ignore ce qu'elle contient. Je voudrais encourager les médias à afficher de façon systématique pour qui travaillent ceux qu'ils invitent, anciens militaires, anciens diplomates, pseudo-journalistes mais vrai businessmen de l'influence.

Je m'étonne enfin qu'Eutelsat continue à disséminer de la propagande russe en diffusant, via quatre satellites, plus de 300 chaînes russes de télévision et une cinquantaine de radios à 15 millions de foyers russes. Il n'est plus le temps de…

(Le Président retire la parole à l'oratrice)

  Thomas Waitz (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, Commissioner, let me start with a call. We all know what happens if Conservatives help fascists into power. I urge you, Conservatives, to learn from history, do not enable a post—fascist and Putin—friendly government in Italy. Yes, it’s the extreme right party, several extreme right parties, where we know that they have ties to Russia, where we know there were financial implications, loans and so on with Russia.

But the polarisation through fake news and ads on social media, the polarisation of our society serves all far right parties and are distracting our elections – our democratic election systems – in the European Union. We have to be aware of that. But we also have to acknowledge that many of our politicians, from the Conservatives, from the Social Democrats, even from the Liberals, were driving us into this dangerous dependency on Russian gas. Some of them even profited personally by serving as employees of Russian companies.

Okay, this was the past. But I think after 24 February, after the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, we should all be very clear – Putin is using disinformation and fake news for polarisation. Putin is using the extreme right, and Putin is also using some of our prominent political figures for his asymmetric war. EPP, you have nothing to win by supporting post—fascists. Come back to the cordon sanitaire and please start with not supporting a post—fascist and pro—Putin government in Italy.

  Ivan David (ID). – Pane předsedající, je pravda, že ruská válečná agrese na Ukrajině eskaluje, ale tím končí pravda. Dále v oficiálním narativu pokračují lži, které mají zakrýt reálnou skutečnost. Lež nás vždycky spolehlivě dovede jen k chybným závěrům. Nejsem úředník Evropské komise nebo nějakého ministerstva zahraničí, abych musel opakovat oficiální lži. A je mi úplně lhostejné, co píší v Rusku nebo jinde. Téměř všechna média jsou nástrojem propagandy. Tak to prostě je. Pokud se jedná o dezinformace, tak například premiér České republiky pan Fiala řekl, že weby, které nechal zablokovat, byly placeny z Ruska. Řekl to veřejně, nijak to nedoložil. Je to lež a ani se neomluvil. Není nic lehčího, než cokoli označit za dezinformaci.

Jak se blokování různých zdrojů liší od cenzury? Samozřejmě, že pokud někdo financuje dezinformační média, a to mohou být všechna, nejenom ta, která jsou financována z Ruska, mohou být financována z Ukrajiny, ze Spojených států, z různých zemí EU, tak jsou financována samozřejmě proto, aby uváděla věci tak, aby se to jaksi hodilo. Jak se to tedy liší od cenzury? Já se obávám, že ti, kteří tady bojují proti cenzuře, tak bojují proto, že se často dostávají do argumentační nouze. Bohužel Evropa se v poslední době dostává do krize a všichni se snaží najít nějaké jiné příčiny, než které ve skutečné skutečnosti jsou. Představitelé EU, zradili jste občany svých zemí a ženete je stále do nebezpečnější ... (předsedající odebral řečníkovi slovo)

  Charlie Weimers (ECR). – Herr talman! Propaganda bemöts bäst med fakta. Västvärlden kan och får aldrig underskatta Kremls propaganda. Den är överallt, och den är effektiv. Den avser att undergräva europeisk motståndskraft med falska påståenden om att Kiev faller inom tre dagar, att ryska militärmakten är näst starkast i världen, och än i dag hör vi från olika håll att Ukraina inte kan vinna.

Lögner bemöts bäst med fakta. Ukrainska hjältar visar i detta nu att Ukraina faktiskt kan vinna, med svenskt och europeiskt stöd.

Den ryska propagandamaskinen har också varit väldigt effektiv i energipolitiken. Vi vet att Gazprom har finansierat miljöorganisationer i syfte att stänga ner europeisk energiproduktion och öka beroendet av rysk gas. Vi vet att Belgiens miljöpartistiska energiminister, som tidigare som advokat har avlönats av Gazprom, nu vill stänga ner landets kärnkraft. Miljöorganisationer i Tyskland fick tiotals miljoner av Ryssland för att motverka energiutvinning.

För att Europa ska motstå ryska påtryckningar krävs självrannsakan. Mitt parti har gjort rent hus med Putinapologeter. Men hur är det med den politiska mitten som sa att Nord Stream var ett strikt kommersiellt projekt och att energivapnet inte skulle användas av Putin – finns det självrannsakan där? Och när kommer självkritiken och viljan till förbättring från en klimatrörelse som tagit emot ryska pengar? När kommer miljövänstern att erkänna att deras kamp mot kärnkraften har försvagat Europa och möjliggjort Putins aggression?

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Mr President, the war in Ukraine is quickly escalating into a wider horror. And from what I can see, practically nobody in this Chamber is doing anything to prevent it. In fact most people seem to get off on the fact that it’s escalating. And at this precise moment, of course, as usual, the voices challenging the rush to war are attacked and silenced, smeared as traitors, cronies, Putin puppets, Kremlin stooges, Russian agents.

Frankly, it’s pathetic. And I don’t make the comparison lightly, but the crudeness and cynicism of these slurs coming from mainstream EU parties might as well have been written by Hermann Göring, who infamously said that even though people never want war, they can be brought to war with threats and smears. He said all you have to do is tell them they’re being attacked, denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing their country to danger – it works the same every way. Where he led, you are following.

This House should be ashamed of this debate. Words are being twisted, meanings subverted, and the truth turned on its head. Opposing the horrible madness of war is not anti—European, it’s not anti—Ukrainian, it’s not pro-Russian: it’s common sense. The working class of Europe have nothing to gain from this war and everything to lose. And I find it laughable that those calling for arms to Ukraine never call for arms for the people of Palestine, or for the people of Yemen. Unlike you, I oppose all war. I want it stopped. I make no apology for that. And I am not going to be scapegoated and labelled for it either.

  Rasa Juknevičienė (PPE). – Mr President, dear colleagues, for 20 years, corruption have been the biggest export of Putin’s regime. The public friends of Putin we just heard, who speak regularly in this House, his open cronies in Member States, are an important part of Russia’s war today. But there is another side to the Putinisation of Europe: the Kremlin has developed sophisticated methods where the openness of democracy is used to influence the emotions of people and politicians.

The Kremlin has become adept at easily achieving goals. Their manipulations and lies are on the front pages of the media, presented as alternative or second opinions. Their lies are presented through some NGOs, cultural, business, sports or even religious organisations that are penetrated and funded by the Kremlin. We have not yet fully identified this.

Today, our biggest challenge is to counter blackmail with gas and nuclear weapons. The Kremlin needs fear-inspiring headlines and speeches. Our response must be our refusal to be afraid. Let’s de-Putinise our fears. The moment of truth, the Kyiv moment, is our chance to evaluate the past and to clean up our political system.

  Tonino Picula (S&D). – Mr President, Mr Commissioner, it’s really hard to say what is worse, Russian war of aggression or Kremlin long—term propaganda. There is a clear political agenda to boost disinformation, propaganda, stimulate regional tensions to destabilise, while supporting radical and populist political options all over Europe.

Pro—Russian political options come from the extremes, from populist backgrounds, and they serve as Putin’s ‘useful idiots’, often as well—paid ‘useful idiots’. However, sadly one can find them even among some former and current EU prime ministers. I would also say that the EU was keeping its eyes shut on this matter for years, hence the consequences.

Putin’s cronies are using dangerous, cynical and manipulative misinterpretations. They are trying to strengthen pro—Russian sentiment by undermining our cohesion, our unity, and by speaking against the sanctions. They are using the rising costs of living, the energy crisis and inflation to speak favourably of Russia and to advocate for the return to business as usual.

We cannot return to business as usual and we cannot overlook the vicious Russian war of aggression and their war crimes. Russian attempts to weaponise energy is just a final confirmation of this.

We would also add that no one in Europe can now sit on two chairs. Serbia, for example, remains the only European country besides Belarus that has not imposed sanctions on Russia. The recent signing of the agreement with Russia in the UN is a slap in the face for their enlargement perspective, but primarily to their citizens that want to join the EU.

We need to continue countering this propaganda, by giving strong support to civil society and fact checkers, not only in the EU, but also in our immediate neighbourhood.

  Petras Auštrevičius (Renew). – Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, dear colleagues, the Kremlin’s long—term, systematic and very poisonous disinformation and propaganda war against the West has been aimed at weakening our value orientation and our adequate perception of reality.

Let’s admit, Russia’s state information policy has imposed influence on us and our partners’ – such as Ukraine in particular – societies for decades and has managed to create confusion in people’s minds, attempting to weaken critical thinking and trust in state institutions and democratic processes.

We must end the presence of the Kremlin and Russia’s state-sponsored propaganda and disinformation channels in our information space – though it’s nothing to do with information – because it is unjustifiable.

The Kremlin’s empire of lies cannot be accepted in the West and our societies. We must curb the cases in which Russian—funded European NGOs, political, scientific and cultural institutions become agents of influence on our side.

  Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, before Russia used tanks, Russian propaganda took aim at Ukraine and the EU. They unleashed their trolls, paid bloggers and corrupt politicians. They infiltrated European governments. They bought up radio frequencies and other critical infrastructure. All this while we stood idly by.

It is high time to grow a spine and stand up to the Russian aggression, not only on the battlefield but also in the information field. Putin will use all our weaknesses if we allow him to. The upcoming winter will not be easy. We need and we must introduce a sanctions regime for disinformation. This should be a warning to anyone who dares to interfere in our democracies.

Lastly, the EU delegation should become the stronghold of fighting the anti—EU propaganda abroad, particularly in the Balkans and the South Caucasus. The Delegation needs to be bolstered with facts and effective strategies. They should be more vocal in defending the truth and refuting the shameless lies that Russia spreads every day.

  Nicolaus Fest (ID). – Herr Präsident! Heute geht es um den Einfluss von Putins westlichen Helfershelfern und darum, wie dieser Einfluss gestoppt werden kann. Das ist sicherlich sinnvoll. Putin war schon vor dem Einmarsch in die Ukraine ein Verbrecher. Die Morde an Boris Nemzow, Anna Politkowskaja oder Stanislaw Markelow sprechen eine überdeutliche Sprache, wie auch der seit Jahren unerklärliche Hang vieler russischer Oppositioneller, sich aus großer Höhe in den Tod zu stürzen.

Aber wer sind die Helfershelfer Putins in Europa? Die in diesem Hause viel bejubelte Angela Merkel, die Deutschland mit der Unterstützung all ihrer Parteigänger hier im Parlament und im Deutschen Bundestag in die Abhängigkeit von russischem Erdgas brachte? Exkanzler Gerhard Schröder, der die Gasgeschäfte einfädelte und Putin einen lupenreinen Demokraten nannte? Die gesamte Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, die den Kurs von Gerhard Schröder jahrelang aktiv mittrug? Oder gehört die Partei Die Linke zu Putins Helfershelfern? Immerhin wurden Die Linke und ihre Vorgängerparteien schon immer von Moskau bezahlt, und noch kürzlich richtete Die Linke Ergebenheitsadressen an den Kreml.

Höchstwahrscheinlich ist auch Greenpeace einer von Putins Helfershelfern. Das behauptet die NATO. Die NATO ist sicher, dass Greenpeace Gelder von Russland für die Bekämpfung von Fracking erhalten hat. Und wer den extrem prorussischen antiukrainischen Artikel gelesen hat, den Greenpeace kürzlich nach scharfen Protesten löschen musste, kann tatsächlich auf den Gedanken kommen, dass auch Greenpeace zu den Helfershelfern Putins gehört.

Vielleicht werden auch Fridays for Future und Greta Thunberg von Putin finanziert. Das meinte zumindest Hillary Clinton vor einiger Zeit, und Clinton ist nun wahrlich niemand aus dem rechten Spektrum. Auch die schon erwähnte Angela Merkel hat diese Vermutung geäußert. Merkel sagte, es sei völlig ausgeschlossen, dass aus dem Nichts heraus und ohne massive finanzielle Unterstützung eine große antiwestliche Bewegung entstehen könne. Hat das Europäische Parlament, als es Greta Thunberg einlud, mithin eine Helfershelferin von Putin hofiert?

Sie sehen, ich wüsste wirklich gerne, wer die Helfershelfer von Putin sind. Das Thema ist zu wichtig, als dass man es für parteipolitische Zwecke missbrauchen sollte. Also lassen Sie uns genau hinsehen, aber bitte objektiv und in alle Richtungen.

  Hermann Tertsch (ECR) . – Señor presidente, señor comisario, la desinformación por parte de la maquinaria de agitación y propaganda de la Rusia de Putin viene realizándose desde hace muchos años y se ha agravado, por supuesto, con la criminal agresión a Ucrania. Hay que combatirla con verdad, no con censura. Y aquí hay muchas tentaciones de hacer lo segundo.

El Kremlin lleva muchos años pagando a grupos y partidos en Europa, de extrema derecha, de extrema izquierda y también, señores, de los partidos convencionales, que son ustedes. Porque los euro Putins o los acólitos europeos de Putin son fundamentalmente los grandes partidos en Alemania, que nos han llevado en Europa a esta situación de postración general frente a Putin. No sabemos si Putin se hubiera atrevido a una serie de cosas si no hubiera tenido estas garantías que se le han ido otorgando durante quince años, quince años de ayudarle a conseguir la dependencia total por parte de Europa, por parte del señor Schröder, por parte del señor Steinmeier, por parte del señor Scholz, de todo el Partido Socialdemócrata de Alemania en general.

Pero también tenemos esa desinformación y esa propaganda en el Partido Socialista Obrero Español, que es el socio de todos esos países que votan en contra de la condena de Rusia en América, en Iberoamérica, en la Alianza del Foro de São Paulo y Grupo de Puebla, donde está el PSOE, donde está Podemos y donde tienen a Russia Today haciendo propaganda antieuropea, antiucraniana, prorrusa, siempre con el apoyo, como digo, de un Gobierno español. Ahí están el mainstream, ahí están los acólitos del señor Putin; están aquí, en los partidos grandes.

  Javier Zarzalejos (PPE) . – Señor presidente, señor vicepresidente, señor presidente del Consejo, la guerra de agresión contra Ucrania nos permite ver en toda su gravedad lo que significa la estrategia de desinformación y de injerencia. Y la primera conclusión es que la desinformación y la injerencia son también una guerra.

Cuando nos enfrentamos a Estados que no ocultan sus ambiciones, ya sean económicas, territoriales o nucleares, la desinformación que practican es la forma de preparar el terreno para el uso de la fuerza.

Antes de que Putin bombardeara Ucrania, había bombardeado las mentes y las opiniones con una campaña permanente de odio y de demonización contra los ucranianos y sus autoridades. La fuerza militar vino después. Por tanto, sepamos que la desinformación es el canario en la mina: siempre anuncia peligro.

Después de sus fracasos militares Putin solo puede confiar en que funcione alguna de estas tres hipótesis. En primer lugar, la amenaza del uso del arma nuclear. En segundo lugar, un cambio político de algún aliado de la OTAN, con la esperanza de que ponga en cuestión la ayuda que recibe Ucrania. Y, en tercer lugar, el desistimiento de Occidente por cansancio.

Pues bien, en cualquiera de estas hipótesis, y para que estas funcionen, es esencial para Rusia la utilización masiva de la desinformación, de la injerencia, de la manipulación, de la actuación a través de personalidades y organizaciones políticas, sociales y mediáticas aliadas de Rusia y afines a su narrativa antioccidental.

Estemos, pues, alerta todos —instituciones, políticos, medios de comunicación, organizaciones sociales— para no dejar que, en este momento crucial, la opinión pública de nuestros países se vea contaminada por la mentira, la amenaza y la manipulación.

  Pina Picierno (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, non possiamo più sottovalutare gli effetti della propaganda di Putin, perché si tratta di un'arma, di una vera e propria arma che è volta a fiaccare la nostra unità, la nostra resilienza, minare i nostri valori, intaccare quella che è la nostra sicurezza collettiva.

Già durante la pandemia abbiamo visto come la Russia ha sfruttato la crisi sanitaria per diffondere caos e disinformazione e l'aggressione in Ucraina ha poi definitivamente fatto toccare con mano al mondo intero il peso della propaganda nel contesto della guerra ibrida. Un'arma usata per dividerci, attraverso la quale il Cremlino cerca di manipolare le atrocità commesse, negare i principi su cui si fonda la nostra comunità internazionale e strumentalizzare, per esempio, la crisi energetica.

E allora voltarsi dall'altra parte non è un'opzione. Non lo farà questo Parlamento, che più volte ha sottolineato la necessità di intervenire. Lo ha fatto attraverso il lavoro prezioso dei colleghi che è stato svolto nella commissione INGE, ma dobbiamo fare di più. Dobbiamo delineare una strategia comune e all'altezza delle sfide attuali. Dobbiamo avviare un programma di informazione, effettuare un monitoraggio più efficace, per esempio dei contenuti che vengono diffusi online.

  Bart Groothuis (Renew). – Mr President, dear Commissioner, dear Ministers, President Putin is not just slowly militarily losing on the battlefield in Europe, he’s also losing the information war against the EU.

The EU has put forward, to his disadvantage, the Digital Services Act, the Code of Practice, dozens of initiatives on media literacy, on free journalism, and we’re even tackling the political party financing, which is a huge problem, as we’ve just seen on the far right and far left side of this House. Mouthpieces of Beijing and Moscow speak freely here. But I’m glad that the reasonable part of this House has put forward the initiatives to tackle just that.

We shouldn’t underestimate, however, how Russian disinformation and propaganda is playing out in the rest of the world. Out there, populous countries in the global South – in Asia, Africa, Latin America – are slowly gaining sympathy for a tyrant murdering, raping, stealing.

Troll farms are enabling that thinking. Russia – and others like China – are aiming at two thirds of the world’s population, and so should the EU, by countering those efforts. The next phase of our joint and evolving effort against disinformation, dear colleagues, should be exactly that: countering disinformation, extending our efforts to the rest of the world in the global South.

  Alexandra Geese (Verts/ALE). – Herr Präsident, Herr Kommissar, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Putin führt seinen Krieg gegen die Demokratie an mehreren Fronten: in der Ukraine mit Verbrechen gegen Menschen in Fleisch und Blut, im Rest der Welt mit Propaganda und Lügen. Und während Putin an der Ukrainefront eine Niederlage nach der anderen einstecken muss, ist sein Propagandakrieg im Internet sehr erfolgreich, denn da hat er zwei große Verbündete.

Der erste sind rechtsextreme Politikerinnen und Politiker und Netzwerke in Europa, in den USA, die systematisch die Propagandalügen aus russischen Trollfabriken aufgreifen und bei uns verbreiten. Und der zweite Verbündete sind die sozialen Netzwerke selbst, ein Nährboden für Lügen und Propaganda. Ihre Gier nach unserer Aufmerksamkeit, an der sie mit Werbung viel Geld verdienen – denn das steckt dahinter –, geht auf Kosten der Wahrheit. Ihre Algorithmen verbreiten reißerische Inhalte schneller als jeden Fakt und dank der umfassenden Datenprofile mit chirurgischer Präzision.

Diese versteckten Feinde der Demokratie müssen wir aufdecken und abschaffen. Dafür ist das Gesetz über digitale Dienste ein sehr scharfes Schwert, das die Europäische Kommission und die Mitgliedstaaten jetzt nutzen müssen.

  Joachim Stanisław Brudziński (ECR). – Panie Przewodniczący! Rosja wydała od 2014 r. ponad 300 milionów dolarów, by wpływać na polityków i władzę w ponad 20 państwach. Chciałbym zwrócić Państwa uwagę na jedno z tych państw i bulwersujący przykład czerpania z kremlowskiej kasy. Mam na myśli niemieckie władze landu Meklemburgia – Pomorze Przednie, które uruchomiły Fundację Klimatu i Ochrony Środowiska na początku 2021 r. Organizacja miała za zadanie wykonać zmierzające już wtedy ku końcowi prace nad finalizacją projektu budowy gazociągu Nord Stream 2. W tym celu otrzymała od Gazpromu w sumie 192 miliony euro. Ostatnie transfery były realizowane zaledwie cztery miesiące przed inwazją Rosji na Ukrainę. Trafiły one do 80 usługodawców. Fundacja kupowała i przechowywała komponenty dla gazociągu, chroniąc dostawców przed amerykańskimi sankcjami. Finansowana była przez władze landu i Nord Stream 2. Dlatego, gdy z tego miejsca pan Verhofstadt mówi o rzekomych cheerleaderach we Włoszech i wzywa do obalenia demokratycznie wybranego włoskiego rządu, to chciałbym zapytać, dlaczego Pan nie wspomina o innych cheerleaderach, takich jak kanclerz Angela Merkel, kanclerz Schröder, kanclerz Austrii, premier Francji... (Przewodniczący odebrał mówcy głos)

  Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou (PPE). – Kύριε Πρόεδρε, κύριε Αντιπρόεδρε, κύριε Σχοινά, κύριε υπουργέ. Η εισβολή του Πούτιν δεν ήρθε ως κεραυνός εν αιθρία. Ο Πούτιν προετοιμαζόταν εδώ και καιρό, και η προπαγάνδα ήταν ένα μεγάλο μέρος της προετοιμασίας του. Πρέπει να παραδεχτούμε ότι δεν αντιμετωπίσαμε επαρκώς ούτε την προπαγάνδα ούτε τα ψέματα του Πούτιν, που συνεχίζεται μέχρι σήμερα και είναι εξόχως επικίνδυνη, εκτός των άλλων, γιατί ανοίγει την όρεξη και τον δρόμο και σε άλλους που σκέφτονται και πράττουν όπως ο Πούτιν, όπως είναι ο Ερντογάν, ο οποίος επίσης χρησιμοποιεί την προπαγάνδα και τα ψεύδη πριν και μετά από οποιαδήποτε παράνομη και προκλητική ενέργεια (casus belli, γαλάζια πατρίδα, αποστρατικοποίηση νησιών, απειλές «μια νύχτα θα έρθουμε ξαφνικά», εκατοντάδες πτήσεις πάνω από τα νησιά του Αιγαίου, αμφισβήτηση διεθνών συνθηκών, αδιαφορία για το διεθνές δίκαιο), και τώρα μας προέκυψε και ένα ακόμα παράνομο μνημόνιο με τη Λιβύη για την εκμετάλλευση υδρογονανθράκων στην περιοχή της νόμιμης ΑΟΖ Ελλάδας-Αιγύπτου. Και πάντα αυτά συνοδεύονται από προπαγάνδα του Ερντογάν κατά της Ελλάδας· η ιστορία του Ερντογάν, που λέει ότι η Ελλάδα είναι το χαϊδεμένο παιδί της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, που εξοπλίζει τα νησιά, που κάνει παράνομα push backs, που πνίγει πρόσφυγες στο Αιγαίο, που αφήνει νεκρά παιδιά στη νησίδα του Έβρου. Και αυτή την προπαγάνδα την αναπαράγουν όχι μόνο εχθροί της Ελλάδας, αλλά τολμούν να την αναπαράξουν για μικροκομματικό όφελος ακόμα και μέλη της ελληνικής αντιπολιτευτικής σκηνής. Κυρίες και κύριοι συνάδελφοι, όταν πρόκειται για την προπαγάνδα του Ερντογάν κατά της Ελλάδας, ας μην ξεχνάμε το σκληρό μάθημα που πήραμε από τον Πούτιν. Γιατί όταν ανεχόμαστε την προπαγάνδα, τα χειρότερα έπονται.

  Marek Belka (S&D). – Panie Przewodniczący! Putin już przed 24 lutego prowadził wojnę. Nie tylko krymską, ale także informacyjną. Atakował Unię. Tłumaczył, że Ukraińcy nie są prawdziwym narodem. A jego armia internetowych trolli zniechęcała do nas i naszych demokratycznych wartości.

Niestety są osoby w Europie, czasami nawet i na tej sali, które tę wojnę współtworzyły. Atak Rosji na Ukrainę nie przyniósł pełnego otrzeźwienia dla tych pożytecznych dla Kremla idiotów. Pozująca do zdjęć z Putinem Marine Le Pen krytykuje Unię Europejską za zbyt ambitne sankcje. Antyukraińskie wypowiedzi polskiego polityka Grzegorza Brauna były wykorzystywane w propagandowym programie rosyjskiej telewizji. Często radykałowie organizują marsze, gdzie wspierającymi Rosję hasłami zapewnili sobie prime time w rosyjskiej propagandówce. To tylko przykłady.

Każdy idiotyczny atak na Unię, sankcje czy Ukrainę powinien być traktowany jako wsparcie Putina. Czas, by Komisja zaproponowała pakiet konkretnych rozwiązań, jak tę internetową wojnę wygrać.

Nawiązując do albumu jednego z aktualnych popleczników Putina, Rogera Watersa z legendarnego zespołu Pink Floyd, nie wiem, czy tacy jak on, polska Konfederacja, czy Marine Le Pen są po ciemnej stronie Księżyca. Z pewnością zapisują się jednak na najciemniejszych kartach europejskiej historii.

  Maite Pagazaurtundúa (Renew). – Señor presidente, señor comisario, señorías, ahora está más claro que la segunda llegada al poder de Putin en 2012 estaba cargada de un identitarismo tóxico y resentido.

El nacional-populismo ha trabajado dentro y fuera de Rusia con su industria de la desinformación (lo hemos dicho). En las últimas décadas ha captado y financiado ideas conspiracionistas y también movimientos políticos antieuropeos e ideologías ultras, tanto conservadoras en la nueva derecha extrema o radical, como en el eje de izquierdas pro venezolano, cubano e iraní.

También ha alimentado el independentismo por si revientan la Unión en algún punto.

Tras la ocupación de Ucrania, sin embargo, necesitan desesperadamente generar dudas y miedo en la opinión pública para que se acobarde, para que acepte, con todas las capas de autoengaño, el diálogo, el llevarse bien, el que hay que ceder ante Putin.

Ceder un poco ante alguien así, ante un régimen así, es pan para hoy y hambre para mañana. O, mejor dicho, gas para hoy y desastre para mañana.

Señorías, en la Comisión Especial sobre Injerencias Extranjeras en Todos los Procesos Democráticos de la Unión Europea, en particular la Desinformación debemos seguir recabando información y entendiendo los mecanismos de la injerencia directa y difusa.

La batalla clave es una dialéctica de voluntades. No la podemos perder.

  Kim Van Sparrentak (Verts/ALE). – Voorzitter, antidemocratische partijen verspreiden online bewust desinformatie: in Oekraïne om verwarring te zaaien en de moraal te breken, maar ook in de rest van Europa om onze maatschappij te verdelen en democratieën uit te hollen.

De algoritmen en verdienmodellen van big tech gaan goed op extreme content zoals haat en desinformatie. Dit gebruiken pro-Russische krachten tegen ons. Vorige week nog onthulde EU DisinfoLab een gigantische pro-Russische desinformatieoperatie via bots en betaalde advertenties waar Facebook meer dan een ton aan verdiende. Zo worden wij dus steeds verder in een bubbel van extremisme gesleurd, met gevaar voor onze veiligheid, en ondertussen wordt big tech lachend rijk.

De oplossing is simpel: we moeten big tech aanpakken en af van persoonlijke, polariserende algoritmen. Maar ieder daadkrachtig optreden om ze te stoppen gaat de Europese Commissie en rechtse partijen te ver. We kunnen niet langer toekijken hoe dit systeem Poetin en de uitholling van onze democratie faciliteert. Hoog tijd om in te grijpen.

  Ангел Джамбазки (ECR). – Г-н Председател, руска агресия срещу Украйна има, руска пропаганда има. Само че тази руска пропаганда е на американски платформи. Най-големите лъжи на тази пропаганда се разпространяват от американски платформи и те не ги свалят. Защо това е така? Защото очевидно не желаят и защото ви помагат в една лъжа, а именно в лъжата, че десните били съюзници на Путин.

Не, не е вярно. Истинските съюзници на Путин са в Брюксел – тези, които унищожаваха европейската енергетика; тези, които унищожаваха въглищните мини; тези, които унищожаваха нашата независимост; тези, които направиха Европейския съюз зависим от руските въглеводороди; и тези, които финансират руската икономика. Това са приятелите на Путин. Не ние десните, не ние националистите.

Национализмът е единствената съпротива, истинска изворна съпротива на болшевизма, а комунизмът е на Кремъл. Както ние се съпротивлявахме с оръжие в ръка след 45-та година в Източна Европа, а вие ни изоставихте и предадохте в Ялта, така и днес продължавате да бъдете истинските съюзници на Путин. Помислете за това.

  Paulo Rangel (PPE). – Senhor Presidente, Senhor Ministro, Senhor Comissário, Senhor Vice-Presidente, não é só desde 24 de fevereiro deste ano, mas desde a invasão da Crimeia e, até antes disso, que certos atores políticos europeus tomam o partido da Rússia e que muitos outros são influenciados pela propaganda e pela desinformação russa.

Não podemos esquecer-nos do que aconteceu nas eleições americanas em que foi eleito Donald Trump, ou no referendo do Brexit, ou no referendo apócrifo da Catalunha. Não podemos esquecer-nos do financiamento de muitos partidos da direita radical, mas também do lançamento e financiamento de muitos partidos da esquerda radical. Em todos eles, esteve sempre a Rússia, esteve sempre a central de hacking mundial que é a Rússia.

Putin transformou a Rússia numa espécie de KGB global, à qual estamos todos sujeitos, a cujas ações estamos todos expostos. E, por isso mesmo, é fundamental que a União Europeia tome medidas claras, medidas com capacidade de influência nos media e, essencialmente, nas redes sociais.

Num momento em que temos um novo panorama do ponto de vista comunicacional, que não é apenas o dos media tradicionais, mas é o das redes sociais, nós temos de ser capazes de descobrir as formas de contrariar a propaganda e a desinformação que podem minar as nossas opiniões públicas e, especialmente neste muito difícil contexto geopolítico, pô-las ao lado de Putin, do Kremlin e das suas violações do direito internacional.

  Brando Benifei (S&D). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, la propaganda antieuropea e anti-Ucraina serpeggia un po' ovunque tra gli Stati membri e l'Italia non fa eccezione. Il tempo passa, ma una certa destra compare di Putin, sedicente guardiana dell'interesse nazionale, ma in realtà con lo sguardo rivolto al Cremlino, continua a strizzare l'occhio verso gli autoritarismi, ignorando persecuzioni delle minoranze e dimenticando il bavaglio alla libera espressione.

Silvio Berlusconi, leader importante del PPE, ha affermato in diretta TV che Putin ha invaso l'Ucraina per "sostituire con un governo di persone per bene il governo di Zelensky". La Lega continua a non denunciare l'accordo di collaborazione firmato col partito di Putin, Russia Unita, e mantiene un velo di ambiguità rispetto ai rapporti che sono stati oggetto anche di indagine con mondi russi, così come riguardo alle visite segrete di Matteo Salvini presso l'ambasciata russa a Roma, a poche ore dall'invasione dell'Ucraina.

Ricordo poi come il regime di Mosca si sia servito scientificamente di mezzi di informazione anti-ucraini in tutta Europa, diffondendo fake news, additando i profughi ucraini come pericolosi criminali o presentandoli come uomini benestanti giunti qui senza un reale bisogno. Questa non è una caccia alle streghe, ma una questione di sicurezza nazionale ed europea e anche una questione di umanità.

Di fronte a un regime che viola il diritto internazionale e minaccia di utilizzare armi atomiche non possono esserci ambiguità. Servono una condanna unanime e azioni forti come quelle annunciate dalla Commissione europea a difesa dell'integrità della nostra democrazia e che noi sosteniamo con tutta la nostra forza.

  Valérie Hayer (Renew). – Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Commissaire, Monsieur le Ministre, chers collègues, octobre 2011, Marine Le Pen déclare, je cite: «J'admire Vladimir Poutine». Février 2014, Poutine envahit la Crimée. Marine Le Pen déclare, je cite encore: «La Crimée a toujours été russe». Septembre 2014, sept mois plus tard, Marine Le Pen reçoit un prêt de 9 millions d'euros d'une banque russe. Elle mange dans la main de Poutine. Février 2022, Poutine envahit le reste de l'Ukraine, Marine Le Pen milite contre les sanctions.

Je parle ici de Marine Le Pen, mais malheureusement, je pourrais en citer d'autres. Matteo Salvini, Viktor Orban, encore lui, des femmes et des hommes qui relaient mensonges et propagande, que ce soit dans leurs discours ou sur les réseaux sociaux. Des femmes et des hommes qui agit dans l'intérêt de la Russie bien avant l'intérêt de leur patrie. Bref, disons-le des faux patriotes. Ces faux patriotes, ils portent la responsabilité de notre insécurité, une insécurité qu'ils alimentent en tentant de diviser les Européens face à l'envahisseur. Il est donc de notre devoir, chers collègues, en tant que démocrates, de défendre nos valeurs. Aucune compromission avec les pro-Poutine, aucune alliance, aucune excuse.

  Niklas Nienaß (Verts/ALE). – Mr President, the first victim in war is the truth – you all know the saying. But I would say that if you want to start a war, you first have to kill the truth. Putin has been doing this for decades now – and also in Europe, like supporting La Lega, Rassemblement National, FPÖ and the AfD. By the way, those colleagues all fled this debate like the Russians flee from the Ukrainian forces.

But also, the biggest target group for Russia is in Russia. Russians have been brainwashed for ages, have been fed that the world hates them, that only Putin can save them, that every war is justified for Russia to free the world from ... from what? From freedom? From liberty?

This we must tackle urgently, and this means we need to be active also in Russia. Please Commissioner, we cannot expect old people to go to the internet, get a VPN and get the information themselves. We have to address them through the radio, through TV, and we have to make sure that they are informed with the truth and that they know one thing – we are not the enemies of the Russian people. The enemies of the Russian people, the thieves of Russian money, the murders of Russian sons and husbands ... sit in the Kremlin!

  Zdzisław Krasnodębski (ECR). – Panie Przewodniczący! Ja nie będę wymieniał nazwisk, tylko wzywam kolegów do zrobienia rachunku sumienia. Nie będę wymieniał tutaj socjaldemokratów czy chadeków, ale mógłbym mówić o Manueli Schwesig, jak mówił mój kolega, o Larsie Klingbeilu, o Sarze Wagenknecht naturalnie i wielu innych politykach. Więc proszę zrobić rachunek sumienia i się zastanowić, socjaldemokraci, chadecy, kto wspierał, kto uczynił Putina silnym.

Chciałbym powiedzieć o czymś innym, bo uważam, że najbardziej niebezpieczni są ci, którzy powtarzają rosyjską propagandę o tym nie wiedząc, nie w pełni świadomie. Ostatnio w dyskursie politycznym w Europie padają często zarzuty o faszyzm, post faszyzm. Każdy, kto się nie zgadza z mainstreamem, jest faszystą itd. Jest to powtórzenie oczywiście retoryki Frontu Narodowego lat 30tych XX wieku. Jeżeli Państwo sięgną do historii, to będą wiedzieli, że to było inspirowane przez Stalina. Więc powtarzamy język sowiecki czy postsowiecki. Nie mogę już konkludować, ale bardzo proszę o refleksję.

  Traian Băsescu (PPE). – Domnule președinte, domnule comisar, cu certitudine propaganda rusă este extrem de eficientă. Pe de altă parte, trebuie să observăm că în ultima perioadă și combaterea acestei propagande mincinoase a devenit tot mai puternică în statele membre ale Uniunii Europene și este făcută chiar de foarte mulți oameni politici și oameni simpli, oameni politici nu de prim rang, dar care se implică, și simplii cetățeni, tineri, ONG-uri.

Cred că din acest punct de vedere suntem pe un drum bun. Avem însă o altă mare problemă, problema consolidării lui Putin de către demnitari ai Uniunii Europene. Și aici o să vă dau, o să enumăr câțiva premieri ai Uniunii Europene care s-au pus în slujba lui Putin după terminarea mandatelor: Schroeder e pe buzele tuturor, Matteo Renzi, fost premier italian, angajat la firmă rusească, Christian Kern, fost cancelar austriac, François Fillon, fost premier al Franței, Esko Aho, fost premier finlandez, Paavo Lipponen, fost premier finlandez, Karin Kneissl, fost ministru de externe austriac, Hans Schelling, fost ministru de finanțe austriac și sigur, nu putea să lipsească, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Cu astfel de oameni în jurul său și ... (Președintele a retras cuvântul vorbitorului).

  Gabriele Bischoff (S&D). – Herr Präsident, Herr Minister Bek, Herr Kommissar, Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Wenn in diesem Hohen Hause die AfD von der Notwendigkeit objektiver Debatten spricht, kann ich nur sagen: Obacht! Herr Beck ist leider nicht mehr da. Aber ich möchte hier noch einmal sagen: Es war in der Tat ein Fehler von vielen Parteien, Putin so lange zu vertrauen. Aber es ist seine Partei, und es ist sein Landesvorsitzender Höcke, der im August in diesem Jahr gefordert hat, Nord Stream 2 zu öffnen. Nur mal so viel zu den Fakten hier im Haus.

Und welche Parteien sind es denn, die jetzt die Ängste und Sorgen der Menschen instrumentalisieren, sie auf die Straße treiben, versuchen, die Demokratien zu destabilisieren? Das sind genau diese Rechtspopulisten. Das sind genau diese Postfaschisten, und sie erledigen Putins Geschäft damit. Der kann sich doch die Hände reiben, denn das ist es, was er versucht. Und er hat eine Armee von Bots, die ihn dabei unterstützen, und jede Menge nützliche Idioten, die das dann auch noch weiterverbreiten.

Und es war doch der US-Geheimdienst, der unlängst darauf hingewiesen hat, dass rechtspopulistische Parteien und Kandidaten 2014 nach der Annexion der Krim über 300 Millionen Franken erhalten haben, um unsere Demokratie zu destabilisieren, und da müssen wir einen Riegel vorschieben. Das darf nicht möglich sein.

Deshalb legen aber auch die, die jetzt davon sprechen, dass ukrainische Flüchtlinge Wohlfahrtstouristen seien oder Sozialtouristen, hier in einer solchen Situation die Zündschnur an. Lassen Sie uns gemeinsam dagegen vorgehen, damit Putin nicht gewinnt!

  Dragoş Tudorache (Renew). – Mr President, dear colleagues, this is what history will remember of this war: a mad dictator invaded his neighbour, caused death and destruction, but failed in the face of bravery and solidarity. Ukraine wins, Putin loses and Europe grows more united.

There is but one problem, and it remains horrible: Putin’s lackeys are still here around us. They continue to poison our societal debates. They continue to undermine our democracies. They spread disinformation and turn citizens against each other.

We must therefore build tools to stop them from winning elections through lies and manipulation, from feeding on the fears and insecurity of all citizens. We must therefore bring to light, and then forbid, any funding of our politics from Russia. You cannot run for office in Europe on Russian money. Full stop.

Second, we need to secure our ability to act as a Union. We need to move away from the blackmail of unanimity and maintain our ability to push back against Putin and others like him. Let us bring down Putin’s cronies wherever they are in our governments, in our parliaments, in our democracies!

  Alexandr Vondra (ECR). – Pane předsedající, ano, ruská propaganda jede na plné obrátky. A čím je Putinova pátá kolona početnější, tím je silnější. Musíme se bránit, ale řešení nemohou být jenom zákazy a náš pláč. Musíme si také sáhnout do svědomí. Ten výčet těch cronies tady jde napříč zleva doprava. Ano, kdo nás dostal víc do té Putinovy oprátky? Angela Merkelová a její Energiewende, Gerhard Schröder, holandští politici a jejich Gazprom nebo Matteo Salvini, madam Le Penová a další, kteří tam hledají financování a zastání? Myslím si, že to jde bohužel tady napříč a že dokud si nesáhneme my sami do svědomí, dokud nepřestaneme nahánět tady tou dominancí progresivismu konzervativce do ruského náručí, tak pak budeme teprve silnější a více schopni se propagandě bránit.

  Sunčana Glavak (PPE). – Poštovani predsjedavajući, povjereniče, kolegice i kolege, destabilizacija demokratskih procesa putem dezinformacija ozbiljno je bojište. Pripremajući vojnu agresiju, Rusija se angažirala u propagandnom i medijskom smislu kako bi prikazala Ukrajinu kao državu u kojoj su na vlasti nacisti koji ugrožavaju rusku manjinu. Iako je ukrajinski narod, slobodnom voljom na demokratski provedenim izborima, nekoliko puta jasno izabrao put prema euroatlantskim integracijama, ruska propaganda nastojala je prikazati, ne samo vlast u Kijevu kao pučističku i time nelegitimnu, nego je išla tako daleko da je cijeli jedan narod optužila za pokušaj provođenja genocida.

Te laži, koje su se čule i s pozornice najvećeg svjetskog foruma Opće skupštine Ujedinjenih naroda, godinama se nastoje plasirati i u europski medijski, nažalost, akademski, prostor, iako je jasno da se radi, prvo o pripremi za agresiju, a poslije i opravdanju nezakonite i neizazvane vojne invazije susjedne suverene države. Optuživanje Europske unije i Sjevernoatlantskog saveza, da su svojim političkim prihvaćanjem u članstvo svih onih koji dijele iste vrijednosti ugrozili samu opstojnost Ruske Federacije te da su svojim ponašanjem izazvali Kremlj na vojnu intervenciju, može se čuti u nekim medijima, u političkom prostoru i u izbornim kampanjama pa i tijekom prosvjeda u nekim državama članicama zbog ozbiljno narušenog gospodarskog stanja, koje je upravo posljedica razarajućeg djelovanja ruskog političkog vodstva, a ne odgovora iz država i institucija Europske unije.

  Marina Kaljurand (S&D). – Austatud isungi juhataja! Desinformatsioon ei ole uus nähtus ja on kahetsusväärne, et Venemaa on jätkuvalt edukas oma propagandas, mille eesmärk on õõnestada demokraatiat, lõhestada Euroopa Liitu ja õigustada kuritegelikku sõda Ukrainas. Sellele saab ja tuleb vastata kõigil võimalikel tasanditel. Euroopa Liit on astunud mitmeid väga õigeid samme võitluses Vene väärinformatsiooniga. Meil on idasuunalise strateegilise kommunikatsiooni rakkerühm, uus väärinformatsiooni vastu võitlemise koodeks ja digiteenuste akt. Aga ka liikmesriikidel tuleb teha oma osa, kaitsta demokraatiat ja kaitsta oma ühiskondi. Eesti puhul tähendab see ka palju aktiivsemat suhtlemist venekeelse elanikkonnaga: kuulamist, selgitamist, veenmist. Ees ootavad raske sügis ja raske talv, kus lisaks Ukraina sõjale hakkavad inimesi mõjutama kõrged elektri- ja toiduhinnad. Kreml ainult ootab, et kasutada seda keerulist olukorda ja poliitilisi kasulikke idioote ka Euroopa Liidu poliitikute seas. Ärgem laskem Kremlil propagandasõda võita!

  Katalin Cseh (Renew). – Mr President, Commissioner, Minister, colleagues, let me start with a quote from the Hungarian public broadcaster: ‘the United States trains the pro—Russian government in Ukraine to a pro—American regime, reprogramming Ukrainian politics, driving it further away from Russia, which resulted in the current situation.’

So this is how the Hungarian state media explains geopolitics to its viewers in the centre of the European Union, funded by the tax money of European Union citizens. Ukrainians are repeatedly being compared to Nazi Germany, their right to exist is repeatedly called into question and Putin’s war crimes are regularly whitewashed as self-defence. This is so prevalent in the Hungarian state—sponsored media that the Russian channels often even quote them directly to justify their own position.

The results are staggering. Three per cent of Hungarian government sympathisers believe that Russia is responsible for beginning the war. Three per cent, colleagues – think about it. We have to have the tools to fight this. The East StratCom Task Force has to adapt to debunk Russian propaganda, even when it is coming from a Member State. Not every country is a benevolent actor. Putin’s mouthpieces have no business spreading lies as a full—time job in our Union.

  Patryk Jaki (ECR). – Panie Przewodniczący! Panie Komisarzu! Szanowni Państwo, szukacie przyjaciół Putina jak zwykle w prawicy. Ja jednak proponuję, żeby najpierw spojrzeć w lustro. Jak Putin w swoim ostatnim wystąpieniu uzasadniał możliwość użycia broni jądrowej? Wiecie jak? Otóż powiedział, że Stany Zjednoczone zaatakowały Nord Stream. A skąd to wiedział? Wiedział od waszego posła Radosława Sikorskiego. Co zrobiliście w tej sprawie?

Co więcej, najśmieszniejsze jest to, jak lewica szuka wszędzie współpracowników Putina, a sama w swoim składzie ma Gerharda Schrödera i trzech polskich komunistycznych kacyków, którzy na zlecenie Moskwy organizowali w naszym kraju aparat represji wobec obywateli.

Wy sami powinniście zrobić rachunek sumienia, dlatego że całkiem niedawno większość Parlamentu przegłosowała, w sporze Polska przeciwko Łukaszence i Putinowi, rezolucję, w której staliście wprost po stronie Łukaszenki i Putina, kiedy atakowano polskie granice.

Co więcej, mówicie, że do kryzysu, wojny i inflacji doprowadziła pycha i brak wysłuchania Polski i państw bałtyckich. No piękne. Tylko jaką receptę w tej chwili proponujecie? Otóż proponujecie więcej tego, co było, to znaczy likwidację weta, więcej kompetencji dla Niemiec i eurokratów. To się musi źle skończyć.

Co więcej, zastanówcie się, komu teraz sprzyja to, że na Polskę nałożyliście więcej sankcji niż na Rosję? Bo odliczając te pieniądze, które się Polsce należą, tak właśnie jest. Komu to sprzyja ?

Co więcej, chcecie uchodzić za imperium moralne. To ja mam dla Was propozycję. To niech najpierw Niemcy rozliczą się za swoje zbrodnie i zapłacą reparacje Polsce. Bo Putin Was bardzo dokładnie obserwuje i myśli sobie tak: mogę zrównać Ukrainę z ziemią i tak nigdy za to nie zapłacę. A dlaczego? A dlatego, że jak ktoś o to zapyta, to ja powiem, że postępuję dokładnie tak samo, jak Niemcy. Że przeszłość nie ma już znaczenia. Rozmawiajmy o przyszłości. To się dzisiaj tylko liczy.

I co? I kto jest rosyjską onucą?

  Liudas Mažylis (PPE). – Gerbiamas Pirmininke, esminis „kontrpropagandos“ bruožas yra atsakymas tiesa į propagandinį melą. O tas Kremliaus ir jo sekėjų – pavienių veikėjų, interesų grupių ir kraštutinių politinių judėjimų Europoje – melas yra įmantrus, ilgai ir kruopščiai ruošiamas, dosniai finansuojamas ir visa savo esme nusikalstamas, taigi gali ir privalo būti baudžiamas. Melagingų teiginių klišės darosi atpažįstamos: abejonės dėl Kremliaus nusikaltimų, dėl karo priežasčių, o Ukrainai perlaužus situaciją frontuose, jau siūloma tą stabdyti diplomatinėmis priemonėmis.

Mechanizmai tai propagandai užkardyti egzistuoja, bet turi būti kur kas griežčiau taikomi. Draudimas transliuoti Rusijos valstybinę žiniasklaidą buvo teisingas, bet to nepakanka. Sąmoningumo didinimas, visuomenės švietimas, parama ekspertams, organizacijoms, dirbančioms propagandos ir dezinformacijos klausimais, – veiksmai, kurių prašome jau ne vienerius metus.

Atidavę eterį Kremliaus veikėjams, išgirstame tik smurto, propagandos kurstymą, betgi to kaip tik neleidžia ES skaitmeninių paslaugų aktas, taigi to ir laikykimės. 300 milijonų, Rusijos išleistų politiniams judėjimams finansuoti užsienyje, tai yra pas mus, – tiesiogiai prieštarauja Kovos su terorizmu finansavimo direktyvai. Taigi asmenys, aktyviai siekiantys paveikti paramą Ukrainai, turi būti patraukti atsakomybėn, turi būti išviešintos jų užmaskuotos finansinės sąsajos su kilmės šalimi Rusija.

  Nils Ušakovs (S&D). – Mr President, dear colleagues, there are roughly five to seven million Russians or Russian speakers who live right now in Europe. In countries like Latvia, absolute majority of them are Latvian citizens, that is citizens of the European Union. And that’s exactly why, stronger than ever, we must support enhancing, or in some cases establishing, European identity of Russian—speaking residents of our Union.

European Union has to think outside the box, demonstrate strong leadership and provide support for European media in Russian language. Moreover, we have to support cultural and educational activities in Russian, various integration programmes.

We should not rely at this moment on national governments in their capacities only. Support must come from the European Union and must be provided across the continent. Millions of pro—European—minded Russians can certainly become another powerful tool to cope with propaganda from Russia and probably to cope with propaganda in Russia itself.

  Γεώργιος Κύρτσος (Renew). – Kύριε Πρόεδρε, θεωρώ μεγάλη επιτυχία την ευρωπαϊκή αντεπίθεση έναντι του Πούτιν στο θέμα των ιδεών και της πληροφόρησης. Ο Πούτιν εξαπέλυσε έναν υβριδικό πόλεμο για να διχάσει την ευρωπαϊκή κοινή γνώμη και να προετοιμάσει τις επιθετικές του ενέργειες. Στην αρχή σημείωσε επιτυχίες, αλλά τώρα το τοπίο έχει αλλάξει δραστικά σε βάρος του. Οι Ευρωπαίοι πολίτες που του έχουν εμπιστοσύνη έχουν περιοριστεί σε μονοψήφια ποσοστά σχεδόν σε όλες τις χώρες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, ενώ η ρωσική κοινή γνώμη έχει αρχίσει να προβληματίζεται με τις επιλογές του και το κόστος που έχουν για τη ρωσική οικονομία και κοινωνία. Αποδεικνύεται έτσι στην πράξη ότι η ελευθερία στον χώρο των μέσων ενημέρωσης οδηγεί σε σωστά αποτελέσματα σε ότι αφορά την κοινή γνώμη όταν περιορίζουμε τις δυνατότητες διείσδυσης και υπονόμευσης από αυταρχικά καθεστώτα και δικτάτορες. Είμαστε σε καλό δρόμο.

  Kosma Złotowski (ECR). – Panie Przewodniczący! Na wojnie walka z dezinformacją jest równie ważna jak niszczenie czołgów czy samolotów przeciwnika. Rosjanie od lat wykorzystują możliwości oferowane im przez internet do wpływania na europejską opinię publiczną. Niestety wielu dziennikarzy, polityków czy artystów w państwach członkowskich mniej lub bardziej świadomie wspiera narrację Moskwy. Nadal nie umiemy skutecznie temu przeciwdziałać. Mogliśmy się o tym przekonać także w Polsce podczas sztucznego kryzysu migracyjnego, gdy próbowano sabotować stanowcze działania naszego rządu w obronie granic Unii Europejskiej. Krytyka takich przedsięwzięć jak kanał przez Mierzeję Wiślaną, gazociąg Baltic Pipe, czy rozbudowa polskiej armii to także służy wyłącznie interesom Putina. W wojnie informacyjnej każdy z nas jest żołnierzem, ale jak mogliśmy się ostatnio przekonać, jeden nieprzemyślany wpis na Twitterze może mieć siłę rażenia bomby atomowej.

  Geoffroy Didier (PPE). – Monsieur le Président, le gouvernement de Vladimir Poutine n'a aucune valeur et n'a aucune limite, ses armes sont illégitimes de toutes natures. Face au silence d'une Europe longtemps endormie, prostrée et brouillonne, Vladimir Poutine a avancé méthodiquement ses pions durant plusieurs années.

Selon de nombreuses sources concordantes, 300 millions de dollars auraient permis à la Russie de financer des partis politiques étrangers européens depuis près de dix ans. Il y a bien sûr l'extrême droite, mais cela, nous le savions déjà et nous n'avions rien à espérer d'eux. Mais le plus édifiant, et devrais-je dire, le plus écœurant, est que des ONG européennes qui se prétendent pourtant porteuses de combats salutaires comme l'écologie et qui ont même fourni certains ministres à des pays d'Europe, auraient elles aussi été financées par des intérêts et entreprises russes telles que Gazprom. De soi-disant écologistes, littéralement achetés pour défendre la sortie du nucléaire et maintenir ainsi la dépendance européenne vis-à-vis du gaz russe.

Qui parmi eux se sont fait les complices de Vladimir Poutine? Cette question mérite d'être posée dans cette enceinte, dans cet hémicycle. Cette question mérite d'être posée par les peuples européens, qui ont le droit de connaître la vérité. Parce que, mes amis, nous le savons désormais, derrière le paravent de l'écologie politique se cachent parfois des intérêts bien sombres et parfois même le pire qui soit.

  Vlad-Marius Botoş (Renew). – Domnule președinte, propaganda antieuropeană a început deja de câțiva ani și unele discursuri de acum câteva minute ne arată acest lucru chiar și în această instituție. Campaniile antieuropene nu sunt duse doar de partidele susținute de Putin, ci și de acele partide care nu știu să vină cu soluții și au nevoie de un țap ispășitor. Libertatea de opinie a fost distorsionată în libertatea de a minți, de a manipula oamenii.

Toate aceste discursuri pot fi trecute cu vederea în timp de pace, dar sunt extrem de greu de acceptat în perioada războiului, când vedem în fiecare săptămână alte și alte dovezi ale masacrelor comise în Ucraina, în teritoriile ocupate, când avem printre noi atâția oameni, copii, femei, bătrâni, ucraineni, care au fost nevoiți să își lase în urmă soții, frații, tații, copiii, fără a ști când se pot întoarce și când îi vor mai vedea, să-și lase în urmă viața normală pe care o aveau.

Este nevoie de acțiuni concrete și coordonate pentru a opri această propagandă mincinoasă. Este nevoie de măsuri rapide și clare pentru a demasca legăturile directe sau indirecte dintre cei care susțin campaniile antieuropene.

  Karlo Ressler (PPE). – Poštovani predsjedavajući, poštovani povjereniče, kolegice i kolege, sastavni dio ruskog velikodržavnog koncepta je širenje kontrole i dominacije izvan svojih granica. Propagandom, hibridnim djelovanjem, dezinformacijama i krivotvorenjem povijesti, a od 24. veljače, nažalost i vojnom agresijom na ukrajinski narod.

Sličnim takvim pokušajima Hrvatska je svjedočila prije 30 godina, kao žrtva agresije velikosrpskog Miloševićevog režima, ali nažalost i danas srbijanske vlasti već standardno perfidno provode hibridnu verziju politike Srbije iz devedesetih godina prema susjednim državama. Zloupotrebom pravosuđa, svojatanjem kulturne baštine, manipulacijom povijesti i kršenjem prava manjina.

Takvi otrovni refleksi, koji svoj uzor i danas pronalaze u Rusiji i povlaštenim političkim energetskim i ekonomskim vezama u odnosima s Moskvom, štete Srbiji, štete i cijeloj Europi. I dok je god tome tako, kolegice i kolege, mislim da je potpuno jasno da Srbiji nije mjesto u Europskoj uniji i da će se Srbija, ne samo formalno udaljavati od pregovora s Europskom unijom, nego da će se i temeljno, dubinski, nažalost, udaljavati od cijele europske civilizacije.

  Róża Thun und Hohenstein (Renew). – Mr President, it’s good that at last we are starting to treat this aspect of the war completely seriously. It’s encouraging to see the determination of Minister Bek and of Commissioner Schinas and the activities presented, but we need them not as words – we really need them as facts.

I would like to quote the numbers evoked here already by Guy Verhofstadt. Out of 6 676 names identified by the Navalny Foundation as a propaganda machine, 135 were proposed for sanctions and only six were sanctioned – only six were sanctioned.

Facebook identified 60 disinformation sites. They hid under the names and visualisation of well—known media like The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Bild. They used false profiles, false accounts in seven languages.

I remember when Barack Obama, proud about the US IT companies, declared ‘the internet is ours’. But it is Putin who successfully uses it as a war tool...

(The President cut off the speaker)

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – A Uachtaráin, we’ve entered a new phase in the unnecessary and callous war waged by Vladimir Putin. His shambolic and illegal referendums have served as a fickle means for Russia to try to absorb thousands of square kilometres of Ukrainian territory in what will be the largest forced annexation of land in Europe since 1945. Like the heinous war crimes that are part of Russian standard military tactics, disinformation has now become a fundamental element of Russia’s international relations.

Last week, within hours of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, disinformation, fitting the pattern of Russian information warfare was immediately circulated on social media platforms. This is a very sophisticated and covert operation, which at this stage is a well—oiled machine that has proven to be effective in many circumstances. It’s amplified to social media algorithms.

The aim is to flood social media with false information, to blur the lines of fact and deter public opinion from supporting Ukraine, depicting it as a failed, corrupt, Nazi state. Disinformation has been so effective that many so-called ‘free thinkers’ have been reduced to unwitting Kremlin spokespersons. It is time to strongly counter this disinformation in the EU.

  Engin Eroglu (Renew). – Herr Präsident, sehr geehrte Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Wegen Putin sterben seit Februar täglich Menschen in der Ukraine. Und natürlich schauen wir als EU dort nicht tatenlos zu. Wir sind das globale Friedens- und Freiheitsprojekt und werden niemals tatenlos zuschauen.

Sanktionen sind das Mindestmaß, was wir machen können, müssen, um diesen Kriegstreiber nicht mehr zu finanzieren. Diese Sanktionen werden jedoch in Frage gestellt. Uns ist klar, dass Putin seit Jahren Geld in der EU in seine Propagandamaschine investiert. Putins Helfer, die sich hier offen ordinär an seine Seite stellen – ob jetzt hier bei uns im Parlament oder in nationalen Parlamenten –, sind nicht unser primäres Problem.

Unser primäres Problem ist die Desinformationskampagne von Putin in den sozialen Netzwerken und in den Medien. Dies müssen wir ganz klar aufdecken und dagegen vorgehen. Deshalb sind diese versteckten Kanäle aufzudecken und zu bekämpfen. Wir müssen besser sein als die russische Propaganda. Wir müssen besser sein darin, die Menschen in der Europäischen Union aufzuklären, und – das ist das Allerwichtigste – Putin darf diesen Krieg nicht gewinnen, weder in der Ukraine noch in unserem Informationsraum.

  Miriam Lexmann (PPE). – Mr President, Commissioner, colleagues, for many years, Russia has continued to use information warfare and other hybrid threats to weaken our democracies. Russian aggression against Ukraine has only deepened this, from spreading lies about the brave people of Ukraine, to cynically claiming that Putin’s Russia is a defender of traditional values. We must fight Putin’s propaganda, and there are concrete measures we can take.

First, we must strengthen our StratCom units on both national and EU level, including the under—funded and under—staffed East StratCom unit. We must actively expose the Kremlin’s lies and, at the same time, actively communicate to our citizens our policies and actions.

Second, although propaganda is not a new phenomenon, it has been exacerbated by social media. We can only successfully fight Russian propaganda if social media are part of the solution.

Third, we must defend freedom of speech, and that’s why we mustn’t allow ‘cancel culture’ or any similar trends. At the same time, we must understand that freedom of speech belongs to individuals, and not to bots or any anonymous social media accounts.

Dear colleagues, just as the Ukrainian people are bravely fighting Putin’s aggression, so must we not be afraid to give them all our support, and to fight Putin’s propaganda and lies. Truth will conquer, and it will win over lies.

  Karin Karlsbro (Renew). – Herr talman! Kommissionär, minister, kollegor! Ingen kan blunda för vad Ryssland har gjort och gör när det gäller att göra lögnen till sanning för att nå sina syften. Vi kan inte säga att vi inte visste, att vi inte såg det komma. Rysslands annektering av Krim och kriget i östra Ukraina var ju nämligen inget annat än en smäll på käften på den europeiska säkerhetsordningen. Att gasledningarna på Östersjöns botten hade fler syften än ren business – det var uppenbart.

Sedan invasionen av Ukraina har nu desinformationen nått nya höjder. När ukrainska trupper är på väg att ta tillbaka sitt eget land, fortsätter en desperat Putin att göra lögn till sanning.

I fredags annekterade Ryssland fyra nya ukrainska regioner med uppbackning av så kallade folkomröstningar. Det värsta med desinformation är ju att den fungerar. Se bara vad Elon Musk twittrade häromdagen! Nej, ett oprovocerat anfallskrig är inte en fråga om två parter som ska komma överens, utan Ryssland måste lämna tillbaka varenda kvadratmeter.

Vi måste sluta spela med i Putins teater. Det är slut på lögnerna. Sanningen måste vinna.

  Michaela Šojdrová (PPE). – Pane předsedající, vážený pane ministře, kolegyně a kolegové, dnes a denně cítíme, jak silnou zbraní je ruská dezinformační kampaň. Šiřitelé dezinformací využívají také strachu ze zvyšování cen energií a provokují nenávist mezi lidmi. Proto jsou tak velmi důležitá opatření proti zdražování na evropské i národní úrovni. Proti dezinformační válce musíme bojovat vyvracením lží a polopravd. A protože dnes při této debatě nemáme možnost položit modrou kartu, chci požádat pana kolegu Davida, aby mi písemně odpověděl. Kdo tedy financuje zablokované dezinformační weby, když tvrdí, že to není Rusko a jeho spojenci? Pokud nezná skutečného investora, pak ať nešíří tyto dezinformace. Komisi a českému předsednictví děkuji za jeho úsilí a vyzývám k ještě větší finanční podpoře účinných nástrojů, jako je StratCom a Evropská digitální observatoř. Dámy a pánové, naší největší zbraní je přesvědčení, že pravda je na naší straně.

  Jordi Cañas (Renew) . – Señor presidente, señor comisario, Ucrania está en guerra contra Rusia y Europa lleva años inmersa en una guerra híbrida contra Rusia. Una guerra híbrida de desinformación, propaganda e injerencia política que ha apoyado a la extrema derecha, a la extrema izquierda y a los partidos separatistas.

Aquí hemos oído hablar de Salvini. Sí. Hemos oído hablar de Berlusconi. Sí. Hemos oído hablar de Le Pen. Sí. Pero ¿saben de quién no hemos oído hablar hoy? ¿Saben quién se reunió tres veces en Moscú, una vez en Ginebra y una vez en Barcelona para pedir ayuda a Rusia, a sus servicios secretos, para la independencia de Cataluña, ayuda económica, política y militar, con el envío de diez mil soldados para apoyar la independencia de Cataluña? Carles Puigdemont, expresidente de la Generalitat de Cataluña y su núcleo duro político.

Esto es una realidad. Son hechos. Hechos, no insinuaciones, hechos reales: comunicaciones con servicios secretos, con el entorno directo de Putin, para pedir ayuda para la independencia de una parte del territorio europeo.

Los ucranianos ganarán la guerra, pero ¿vamos a ganar la nuestra nosotros contra los rusos?

  Inese Vaidere (PPE). – Godātais sēdes vadītāj! Dārgie kolēģi! Kremlis ir gadiem ilgi indējis Eiropu ar propagandu. Tādēļ nebija stingras Eiropas atbildes Krievijas agresijai Gruzijā un Krimā, kas, iespējams, būtu novērsis karu Ukrainā.

Putins nespēj uzlabot vienkāršo krievu dzīves līmeni. Tā vietā kultivē mītu par labajiem Eiropas atbrīvotājiem no fašisma. Šo atbrīvotāju toreizējo zvērību nesodīšana iedrošināja Krieviju uz pilnīgu necilvēcību Ukrainā. Patiesībā tieši Krievijā šobrīd valda fašistisks režīms.

Eiropas Savienības budžetā jau iekļauts manis izstrādātais pilotprojekts cīņai pret Krievijas dezinformāciju, taču tam jānovirza vēl nopietnāki līdzekļi. Dezinformācija padarījusi Krievijas nāciju slimu, par ko liecina plašais atbalsts baismīgajam karam Ukrainā. Jābloķē pieeja visiem Kremļa medijiem. Nav runas par vārda brīvību, jo Krievija nepārtraukti melo.

Jāatbrīvojas no Kremļa ideoloģijas pārstāvjiem Eiropā un jāpalielina ieroču piegādes Ukrainai. Cīņā pret Krievijas propagandu mums jābūt tikpat apņēmīgiem kā ukraiņiem karalaukā. Paldies!

  Claudia Gamon (Renew). – Herr Präsident! Eine russische Zeitung hat heute eine Kolumne der ehemaligen österreichischen Außenministerin der FPÖ, Karin Kneissl, veröffentlicht. Europa brauche das russische Gas, versicherte sie ihren russischen Leserinnen und Lesern. Die Putin-Versteher in Österreich und der Europäischen Union stehen nicht nur für den buchstäblichen Kniefall, wie im Fall der Karin Kneissl, sondern für den vollkommenen moralischen Verfall.

Ein steirischer Abgeordneter der Kommunistischen Partei bezeichnete die Ukraine als verkrüppelten Staat und wiederholte bekannte Lügen, zum Beispiel in dem Sinne, die Sanktionen seien völkerrechtswidrig. Was macht das offizielle Österreich? Kanzler Nehammer trifft ein paar der einflussreichsten Putin-Versteher: Viktor Orbán und Aleksandar Vučić.

Russland hat den Lügenkrieg perfektioniert, aber die Wahrheit bleibt: Russland ist der Aggressor, Wladimir Putin ist ein Kriegsverbrecher, und die Ukraine muss diesen Krieg gewinnen.

  Stanislav Polčák (PPE). – Pane předsedající, Evropská unie je pod tlakem dezinformací zvnitřku i zvnějšku, nejen z Ruska, již dlouhodobě. Když se podíváte na ruský rozpočet, tak zjistíte, že právě to příslušné oddělení, které má dezinformace na starosti, roste rozpočtově každý rok. Ne, že bychom v této věci nic neudělali, ale myslím si, že je nutné udělat v boji proti zejména ruským dezinformacím více. A musím připomenout návrh, který jsme zde projednávali již v minulém období, já jsem ho podával, o nepřípustnosti financování národních politických stran třetími zeměmi. Tento návrh neprošel. A čeho jsme svědky dlouhodobě? Bohužel ve většině členských států EU najdete jednu, dokonce více stran, které mají nepochybné ruské financování. Takovýto stav je nepřípustný a musíme se vypořádat s ruskou propagandou jednou provždy, vyhnat ji z našich vlád, vyhnat ji z našich politických stran, z našich kanceláří a být jednotní.

  Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, thank you for this rich and at times passionate debate. The only real security concern that Russia is facing is our model society, our democracy, and our way of life. This is what they fear, and this is what they’re fighting against in Ukraine.

Defending our democracies includes defending the foundations on which they stand: media freedom, open discourse, and informed decisions by voters. We are acting on all these fronts. We are fighting disinformation with everything we’ve got, but more is yet to come. We shall come forward before next summer with a Defence of Democracy package, which will address the problem of foreign agents and review the European Democracy Action Plan, notably ensuring it is still fit for purpose regarding the fight against disinformation.

But we should also ask ourselves collectively a question: why is disinformation so easily possible in Europe? Why is it so easy to seduce Europeans with toxicity, with ideas that are spread through propaganda campaigns using decades old manipulation tools, and to disseminate lies so quickly? Why are we so lacking in resilience? Where is the immunity we should collectively have as a Union of democracies?

I think that these are real questions we should be asking ourselves these days, and we should try to seek remedies and solutions. The quest for a more resilient European society is more pressing than ever before, and we can indeed look around and take examples from countries like Finland, for example, where a robust democratic education system helps people not to become victims of propaganda and to acquire resilience, defence and immunity.

I agree with Guy Verhofstadt when he says that we should also do more with our partners, that our partners should and can do more – especially some of them who are EU candidate countries. They cannot be at the same time with us and with those who are aiming to harm us.

The moment of truth is coming. Our people will not understand that in these difficult times, some of our EU countries that aspire to be members of the family can act on both boats. If they forget it, let me assure you that we shall remind them of this obligation.

  Mikuláš Bek, President-in-Office of the Council. – Mr President, Vice—President of the Commission, honourable Members, today’s debate shows once again the complexity of the interference in our democratic life. We must continue to work on strengthening our resilience while also clearly showing that we will not accept actions against our right to have an information space free from manipulation.

We will continue to take active and determined actions against it. The Council as a whole attaches particular importance to protecting our democratic processes, institutions and societies from any foreign interference, be it information manipulation or other means.

Let me recall some of our actions from past month. On 2 March 2022, the Council suspended the broadcasting activities of Sputnik and Russia Today in the EU or directed at the EU until the aggression to Ukraine is put to an end and until Russia ceases to conduct disinformation and information manipulation actions against the EU and its Member States. As you may remember, this decision has been confirmed by the European Court of Justice.

In June 2022, the Council adopted the conclusions in which it introduced a framework for a coordinated response to hybrid threats and campaigns affecting the EU Member States and partners. The next step is the development of the EU hybrid toolbox, and here the work is actively ongoing under the Czech Presidency. It demonstrates the new level of ambition at EU level to counter hybrid threats, including foreign interference and manipulation and the war in Ukraine was one of the accelerators pushing the political agenda further.

In July 2022, the Council adopted conclusions in which it reiterated that the EU and Member States will step up their efforts to reach out to third countries in order to support Ukraine in agreed dimensions and to counter the false Russian narrative and manipulation of information. And concerning the sanction regime in this area, the Council is, of course, willing to examine any proposal from the Commission on possible extension of sanctions lists.

Honourable Members, rest assured that the Council will continue to support the joint efforts with the Parliament to make progress on devising ambitious and firm European responses to the issues we have been debating today. Thank you very much for your attention.

Puhetta johti HEIDI HAUTALA
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  Puhemies. – Keskustelu on päättynyt.