Ciara O’Loughlin and Seoirse Mulgrew
source: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/clare-daly-responds-after-ukraine-puts-her-on-list-of-people-who-allegedly-promote-russian-propaganda-41871091.html
July 27 2022 08:37 AM
Irish MEP Clare Daly has responded after she was put on a list compiled by Ukraine’s secret service who it claims “promote narratives consonant with Russian propaganda”.
The list includes 72 public figures across the globe who Ukraine deems to be sharing harmful narratives.
Ms Daly is the only Irish figure on the list. Others include US Republican senator Rand Paul, former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and US journalist Glenn Greenwald.
The list, which is titled “speakers who promote narratives consonant with Russian propaganda”, was published by the Centre for Countering Disinformation, a unit within the national security and defence council of Ukraine which is headed by president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ms Daly is being accused of sharing two narratives – that sanctions against Russia “make innocent people suffer”, and that the Ukrainian conflict is “a proxy war between Nato and Russia.”
In a statement issued to Independent.ie this morning, Ms Daly said it was a “blacklist issued by a Ukrainian Government propaganda department”.
The left-wing MEP, who has been critical of Nato and Western countries’ response to the Russia’s invasion, as well as the invasion itself, added that the “West’s intervention has only prolonged the war, contributing to continuing death and destruction”.
“Both comments attributed to me are absolutely correct and I stand over them. Increasingly it is ordinary citizens in Europe who are paying the price of the sanctions and it is only getting worse as the gas is turned down,” she said.
“Russia is responsible for starting the war but the role of the international community should be to help end it with diplomatic efforts seeking to secure ceasefire and a negotiated peace. This has been rejected by the US and NATO who have instead decided to use Ukraine to conduct a war with Russia, and it is ordinary citizens in Ukraine, Russia and Europe who are now suffering.
“This is not ‘Russian propaganda’; it is my opinion, shared by many internationally.”
Ms Daly said the list is “not a credible document”, adding: “It is an outrageous attempt to censor international opinion from a government that has already outlawed opposition parties, independent media, and purged of many of its officials.”
s Daly continued: “The list contains a diverse group of people who have next to nothing in common politically, except that all are critical of NATO and Western policy on Ukraine. That’s what democracy is: having the right to express an opinion and have a different view. That Ukraine is attempting to shut that down and narrow the range of ideas expressed in our societies is a mirror image of the behaviour we rightly criticise Russia for “The purpose of this list and the consequences of being put on it are not specified but it certainly belies any notion of Ukraine’s government being committed democrats.”
Ms Daly continued: “The list contains a diverse group of people who have next to nothing in common politically, except that all are critical of NATO and Western policy on Ukraine. That’s what democracy is: having the right to express an opinion and have a different view. That Ukraine is attempting to shut that down and narrow the range of ideas expressed in our societies is a mirror image of the behaviour we rightly criticise Russia for.