MOSCOW (Sputnik) —Earlier in the day, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution based on the report "EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties." The Sputnik news agency, the RT channel, the Russkiy Mir foundation and Rossotrudnichestvo are named as main information threats to the European Union.
"Rossotrudnichestvo promotes Russian culture and Russian language, Russian education, works with young people, supports compatriots. Rossotrudnichestvo establishes and develops relations between general public, builds ‘human bridges’. The Agency is not engaged in propaganda activities," the statement obtained by RIA Novosti read.
Rossotrudnichestvo noted that it tried to support trust-based relations with all people interested in Russia, regardless of their nationality.
The resolution proposed by EU parliamentarian from Poland Anna Elzbieta Fotyga drew parallel between Russian strategic communication and the propaganda disseminated by the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia and other countries. The document calls for extra European Commission funding for counter-propaganda projects.
Out of 691 lawmakers taking part in the vote, 304 voted in favor of the resolution, 179 voted against it, and 208 abstained. Therefore, less than half of the lawmakers supported the resolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, when commenting on the adoption of the resolution, congratulated RT and Sputnik journalists for effective work and stressed that this resolution indicated apparent degradation of the concept of democracy in the Western society. Putin also expressed hope that the common sense would prevail and that there would be no actual restrictions against the Russian media.
