The European Union’s parliament on Wednesday voted to label Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in a symbolic move as the EU has no legal framework for the label.
The resolution passed in a vote of 494-58, with 44 members not voting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the move and urged the US and other countries to also label Russia as a state sponsor of terror.
The White House said in September that it ruled out the idea of labeling Russia as a state sponsor of terror. Currently, only Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria are labeled by the State Department as state sponsors of terror, which has more weight than the EU resolution as it expands sanctions on the targeted nation.
Russia has already been put under heavy US sanctions, so the label would have little impact on Moscow. But it could give the US more power to sanction countries that are doing business with Russia, and it would signal that US-Russia relations won’t be repaired for years to come as the label is usually tough to reverse.
Russia has denounced the EU’s move, with Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying the EU should be designated as a “sponsor of idiocy.” Some EU members previously labeled Russia as a terror sponsor on their own, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
Useless symbolic gesture that closes off paths to peace.
LOL and the EU / NATO ain`t .
Good one, Maria.
“Terrorism” labels go to those nations that don’t bow to US hegemony! It does NOT apply to USA actions or nations like Israel. That’s why this world is so screwed up! No overall justice is ever meted out to those nations that control the planetary “legal” system.
“Maria Zakharova saying the EU should be designated as a ‘sponsor of idiocy.'” Amen, sister!
Oh isn’t that just “special” More misuse of the word “terror” or “terrorism”.
“The resolution passed in a vote of 494-58, with 44 members not voting. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the move and urged the US and other countries to also label Russia as a state sponsor of terror.”
Once again with my John McEnroe imitation: “YOU CAN”T BE F*CKING SERIOUS”. I added an adjective. Ask George W whose gaffe, or as I call it, the truth, admitted what the US did in Iraq was the same as what Russia is doing in Ukraine. Of course, he left out the justifications for both invasions since his invasion was based on complete bullsh*t while Russia’s was inevitable and provoked by George’s own country.
The EU at this point is desperate to point the finger at someone else for their woes other than themselves. It’s becoming increasingly clear that neocons/neolibs are trying to deindustrialize Germany just like they did in the USA in the 1980s and 90s, this time by shutting off Germany’s energy supplies. They will be forced into a severe depression that hasn’t been seen in Germany since WWII. Nationalism will once again raise its ugly head.
Well, if the deindustrialization of Germany goes anything like the 1980s/90s deindustrialization of the US, then 25 years from now Germany will be manufacturing three times as much as does now. So there’s that.
Manufacturing employment is the key statistic here. In 1979 US manufacturing employment stood at 19.53 million. by 2010 it had slipped to 11.49 million. All those good manufacturing jobs were shipped off to China and elsewhere. Those workers became the “deplorables” that brought Trump to power in 2016. Ominously, the same thing will most likely happen in Germany.
And some of the ‘good’ jobs that did stay, stayed right here in the US. They just moved to the south and were downgraded a bit from being good.
Germany doesn’t have a factory country like US did with China.
EU Parliament Labels EU as ‘State Sponsor of Terrorism’
I think it’s amusing. It reduce any remaining significance of Anglo-American vassal states in Europe.