On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution on countering Russian media outlets, such as the Sputnik news agency, which belongs to Rossiya Segodnya media group, and the RT broadcaster. As many as 304 voted in favor the document, 179 voted against and 208 abstained. With a total of 691 officials taking part in the vote, less than half supported the resolution.
"Yemen Today confirms its full solidarity with your agency and your channel today,… condemns any attempt to restrict or suppress freedoms, and in this regard it also strictly condemns the European Parliament's resolution, as it violates the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," Faisal Shabibi, the executive general director of the Yemeni broadcaster, wrote.
The resolution said that Sputnik and RT posed a danger to European unity and called for extra European Commission funding for counter-propaganda projects.
Sputnik responded by calling the move a direct violation of media freedom and human rights, while Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the matter by pointing out that the document indicates a degradation of democracy in the West. Praising Sputnik and RT for their work, the president expressed hope that real media restrictions would not follow.
