Russia Exploiting Democratic Instruments, Turning Them Against Democracies, MEP Says

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Rasa Jukneviciene, the European Parliament deputy from Lithuania, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

Asked where the balance is between aggressively shutting down hostile foreign information manipulation and propaganda networks and upholding democratic freedoms, the MEP acknowledged the complexity of the situation.

“It's a very good question. We see, including in our European Parliament, the far-right politicians, euroskeptics who don't want a strong European Union. They are usually very much pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian. They are opposing further support for Ukraine, and they are digging inside our societies to poison the mindsets of the people,” she said.

In her view, Armenia and Moldova are the best examples of fighting this problem.

“Both faced a huge hybrid warfare before and during their election, and they managed to resist. They managed to take over, and those openly pro-Russian forces lost heavily. These countries were not afraid to fight. They were not afraid to say that democracy must be defended,” Jukneviciene said.

At the same time, she stressed that established democracies traditionally protect fundamental values such as freedom of speech and expression and free media.

“People can say what they want to say. So, this is a tricky question. We see that Russia has been using democratic instruments against democracies. They exploit freedom of speech, claiming that supporting Putin or hating Ukraine is part of that,” the lawmaker said.

Read also: Ukraine to be enabler of EU's future security architecture – MEP

As reported by Ukrinform, in an interview with Ukrinform, MEP Rasa Jukneviciene said that Russian“cultural” centers in the EU countries serve as a cover for intelligence activities and should be closed, following Germany's example.

Photo: EPP Group

MENAFN23092026000193011044ID1111701619