DISINFO: EU supported anti-constitutional and anti-Russian coup d'etat in Ukraine and brought down ties with Russia
SUMMARY
In 2014, the EU brought down the architecture of many-sided ties with our country, painstakingly created over the years. The root cause was the support of the European Union for the anti-constitutional coup d’etat in Ukraine with a pronounced anti-Russian, anti-Russian flavour. As a result, the Russia-EU summits, which were held twice a year, and the meetings of the Russian government with the European Commission have been suspended. The formats of the Russia-EU Permanent Partnership Council and two dozen sectoral dialogues are frozen.
Since 2004, when the Baltic countries joined the EU membership, there has been open and consistent discrimination against the Russian-speaking population living there.
RESPONSE
Recurring Pro Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU, an attempt to shift responsibility for the deterioration of EU-Russian relations to the EU, diverting attention from Russia's aggressive policy toward neighbouring countries. EU-Russian relations have been strained since 2014 because of Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, policies in the neighbourhood, disinformation campaigns and negative internal developments.
There was no anti-Russian coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests depicting the 2013-14 revolution as a coup d'état. Ukrainians spontaneously united against the actions of President Viktor Yanukovych after his government, due to pressure from Russia, refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, which had taken seven years to negotiate.
It was Russia that annexed Crimea and continues to destabilise Ukraine, which was the reason for the EU and the US to impose sanctions on Russia. From the outset, the EU has supported Ukraine's territorial integrity, condemning the clear violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces. The EU has regularly renewed sanctions against Russia since 2014.
As stated by Josep Borrell this weekend:
"The Russian authorities did not want to seize this opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue with the EU. This is regrettable and we will have to draw the consequences, stated HV/VR Josep Borrel after his visit to Moscow. It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe and looking at democratic values as an existential threat."
As for the discrimination of Russian-speakers in the Baltic countries, it's an unfounded and recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative. Examples of the variations of these false claims include Baltic countries developing apartheid regimes; authorities introducing bans on the Russian language and discriminating Russian media.