DISINFO: Russophobia weakened Europe
SUMMARY
Europe weakened due to the reigning Russophobia. In 2014, when Western countries started imposing anti-Russian sanctions, experts argued unanimously that the Russian economy wouldn’t resist such a colossal pressure, but these sanctions had more impact in Europe than in Russia. It was the US who dragged the EU into an anti-Russian campaign.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives, claiming that sanctions on Russia were Russophobic, that they were imposed following US orders and that they were ultimately ineffective. All of them are false.
Contrary to the claim, the imposition of sanctions on Russia were not the result of “Russophobia”, but a reaction to Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine. Accusing other countries of “Russophobia” when they call out Russia’s misdeeds is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique. The EU sovereign decision to impose those restrictions was not due to US dictates but to the fact that Russia’s actions in Crimea and Sevastopol are a violation of international law that remains a challenge to the international security order.
According to research into the effect of sanctions, the cumulative export loss to Russia during 2014-2018 is estimated at EUR 30 billion(about -0.2% of EU’s GDP in 2018), incurred largely during 2014-2016, as EU exports to Russia recovered in 2017. Furthermore, most research supports the view that sanctions have worked as planned, noting the drag they have imposed on Russia’s general economic development since 2014. This adverse effect most likely operates by depressing both foreign trade and foreign capital flows into Russia. Russia’s own counter-sanctions have also had a clear negative effect on the welfare of the average Russian household. While these sanctions do effect EU's economy, the EU-wide impacts of the export losses are estimated at less than 0.2% of total value-added and employment.
See other examples of these disinformation narratives, such as claims about a supposed anti-Russian bias of international institutions - be it the OPCW, the World Anti-Doping Agency or the United Nations - which always falsely accuse Russia; the affirmation that it is NATO and not the Kremlin who is involved in the Donbas conflict; or the affirmations that US restrictions contribute to the coronavirus pandemic and that EU has lost hundreds of billions due to sanctions on Russia.