One of the latest sanctions imposed by the European Council has sparked a controversy, with critics saying the Brussels establishment is taking action simply to protect its—and Kyiv’s—narrative.
The body says it has imposed measures against Ukrainian journalist Diana Panchenko because she is “responsible for, implementing or supporting actions or policies attributable to” the Russian government “which undermine or threaten stability or security in” Ukraine “by engaging in the use of information manipulation and interference.”
But former U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Flynn argued that it has actually done so because her voice “threatens their narrative,” praising Panchenko for “courageously exposing corruption and pleading for peace.”
In a strongly-worded post, Flynn described the council’s sanction as “tyranny in its purest form,” adding:
Globalists can sanction all they want. They will NEVER silence the truth.
This is a desperate act of a FAILING regime, silencing dissent.
Hey EU—Quit picking on women!
The EU just sanctioned a brave Ukrainian journalist and new mother, @Panchenko_X , a young mother courageously exposing corruption and pleading for peace.
They didn't sanction Zelensky or his corrupt inner circle, who've stolen billions.
Dutch politician and former MEP Rob Roos stressed in response that the “EU is not Europe,” saying the bloc “starts more to look like North Korea.” Roos also described “these unelected bureaucrats” behind this and other decisions as “a clear and present danger to liberty.”
Professor Glenn Diesen of the South-Eastern University of Norway likewise noted that “the EU does not sanction Ukrainian officials who stole our tax money,” but rather those who “undermine Western support for the war.”
The EU does not sanction Ukrainian officials who stole our tax money. The only Ukrainian on the sanctions list is Diana Panchenko, a Ukrainian journalist who is accused of being anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia. Some of her anti-Ukrainian activities include reporting on the brutal… pic.twitter.com/p21Mu28cyT
Panchenko has, for her own part, insisted that “I’ve never taken a political stance, but I mostly talked about corruption in Ukraine.” Recent investigations have exposed a sweeping corruption scandal in Kyiv, and have resulted in the finding of “duffel bags filled with cash” inside the Kyiv apartments of some top officials, as well as a “golden toilet.”
The European Council claims that she “amplifies conspiratorial and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric on her Telegram channel,” and that “she tries to increase her English-speaking audience by using clickbait content and inauthentic activity and by promoting pro-Russian accounts.”
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
