Russia has banned 81 EU-based media, including EUobserver, saying they “systematically disseminate false information about the progress of a special military operation [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]”.
The Russian foreign ministry announced the move on Tuesday (25 June) in retaliation against EU sanctions on Russian propaganda outlets.
Russia’s online ban covered national broadcasters and news agencies in Austria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden, but not Germany or Poland.
It hit several of Europe’s best-known newspapers, including Berlingske in Denmark, France’s Le Monde and Liberation, Germany’s FAZ, Der Spiegel, and Die Zeit, the Irish Times, La Repubblica in Italy, NRC in the Netherlands, and Spain’s El Pais.
EUobserver was banned as one of four EU-focused media, including also Agence Europe and Politico in Brussels, and the Prague-based RFE/RL.
Other EU-focused media, such as Euractiv and Euronews, were not mentioned by Moscow.
The Russian ministry also spared all media in pro-Russian Hungary, except one independent outlet called 444.hu.
The ministry called the ban a “mirrored and proportionate” reaction to EU sanctions on Russian media.
“If restrictions on Russian media are lifted, the Russian side will also reconsider its decision in relation to the mentioned media operators,” Russia said.
For its part, the EU banned four Russian propaganda conduits on Monday — Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Voice of Europe was a Prague-based outlet said to have bribed MEPs to act for Russia in a recent sting by Belgian, Czech, and Polish intelligence.
This is still the subject of an ongoing investigation.
The EU has also blocked Russian outlets Katehon, Pervyi Kanal, REN TV, Rossiya 1, Rossiya 24, Spas TV, Sputnik, Russia Today, Tsargrad TV, and several of their subsidiaries in previous rounds of sanctions.
And it has blacklisted over 100 Russian individuals on grounds they were spreading propaganda, such as RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and TV anchorman Vladimir Soloviev.
The bans on both sides are less than watertight — EUobserver still had Russian readers following Tuesday’s declaration.
Russia Today and Sputnik are also widely accessible in the EU, even without using a VPN, according to RFE/RL.
Russia ranked near the bottom of the world — 162nd place out of 180 — for press freedom, according to the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
RSF’s website is also blocked in Russia.
Commenting on the Russian media ban, EU values commissioner Věra Jourová said on X: “It’s a nonsense retaliation.”
“No, propaganda outlets funded by Russia to spread disinformation as part of Russia’s military doctrine are not the same as independent media. Democracies know that,” she said.