08 Feb 2024

European Parliament’s “Russiagate” Resolution

Read the resolution here.
See our main amendment here.

In democracies, the rule of law and the universality of human rights are supposed to be fundamental. Not in the European Parliament, where you only have to say the magic word, "Russia," and brains switch off, principles are suspended and due process goes out the window.

But smears about ‘foreign agents,’ ‘terrorists’ and ‘subversives,’ and the suspension of respect for due process and universal rights to address "external threats" - these are some of the oldest tricks in the book. Guilt-by-association is another.

Authoritarian in character, these are multi-purpose weapons for the centre to delegitimise opposition and target everyone it doesn't like: populists and Eurocriticals, Catalan and Basque independence, the left, Irish republicans, political dissidents, the anti-war movement. The list goes on and on, and changes according to the elite political priorities of the day. And when the drift towards authoritarianism is left unchecked, it slides towards active repression.

Democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights are non-negotiable. Human rights are universal. A genocide is ongoing in Gaza. The European Union is complicit in it. At a time when it has become blindingly obvious that the EU establishment doesn't give a damn about international law, or the law in Europe either, they would like nothing better than to create a giant distraction. Don't let them.