EU Travel Ban On Three Journalists Is Flagrant Violation Of Human Rights

Terrifying escalation of continent's war on freedom of speech

The EU has ruled that Alina Lipp may not travel to or through EU nations, with the exception of her home nation of Germany, for her reporting from Russia (Credit: https://www.instagram.com/neuesausrussland/)

As terrible as it may seem to anyone who loves their country, it is legal to use one’s voice to support a foreign nation over one’s own, so long as it is not accompanied by espionage or material support to an enemy. It’s easy to see why this should be. If it were illegal, it would be straightforward for anyone to demand the arrest of peace activists or anyone else calling for an end to hostilities with another nation. Governments could even use such a prohibition to censor or arrest people who oppose going to war in the first place.

And so it is deeply troubling that the European Union has banned three journalists, two German and one Turkish, from entering the EU, and frozen their bank accounts, because, allegedly, they have been “spreading pro-Russian propaganda”, “undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”, and “destabilising” EU countries through their reporting. It did so through its 17th sanctions package on Russia, approved on May 20th.