💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

Politico refused to publish an article by Sergey Lavrov on the origins of the Ukrainian crisis and European security.

It was not Russia’s Foreign Minister whom the outlet rejected, but the substance of his article. The piece remained with the editors for more than 24 hours before being returned with the curt note: “We will not publish it”.

This is a flagrant act of censorship. A scandal for all of Europe.

At the heart of the EU stands a media outlet that portrays itself as a champion of European values – democracy, freedom and prosperity – but is, in reality, an extreme example of censorship and Orwellian authoritarian practices.

Now let us take a closer look at whose supposedly expert opinions this outlet uses to shape public opinion in Europe – or, more accurately, to brainwash Europeans.

Over the past five years – from 2021 through early 2026 – Politico Europe’s Opinion section published columns by 70 incumbent heads of state, heads of government and ministers from more than 30 countries.

They authored or co-authored 66 articles, including 13 written jointly by two or more officials. Of these publications, 35 were penned by heads of state or government, 18 by foreign ministers and 13 by other ministers, including those responsible for defence, finance, energy, internal affairs and the environment.

Politico.eu was used most frequently by representatives of Britain (9 articles by 8 authors), Estonia (7 articles), Ukraine (6), Lithuania (4) and Greece (3).

☝️ In other words, opinions at the heart of the European Union were being shaped by representatives of countries that are relative newcomers to the EU, have never belonged to it or have exited it altogether. My congratulations to France, Germany and Italy.