By: Jake Smith, Daily Caller News Foundation
Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson could be threatened with sanctions by the European Union (EU) over his interview with Vladimir Putin, according to current and former members of the European Parliament.
Carlson traveled to Moscow and met with Putin for a yet-to-be-released interview about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its global perception. Carlson could face sanctions or a travel ban to Europe from the EU governing bodies over his interview with Putin, former and current and parliamentary members told Newsweek.
“As Putin is a war criminal and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service examines [Carlson’s] case as well,” former Belgian prime minister and current EU parliament member Guy Verhofstadt, who has called for a travel ban to be imposed on Carlson, told Newsweek.
“Carlson is not being a real journalist since he has clearly expressed his sympathy for the Russian regime and Putin and has constantly disparaged Ukraine, the victim of Russian aggression,” former Estonia foreign minister and current parliament member Urmas Paet told Newsweek. “So, for such propaganda for a criminal regime, you can end up on the list of sanctions. This concerns primarily travel ban to EU countries.”
In order to impose sanctions on Carlson, the EU External Action Service (EEAS) must consider the available evidence, and then turn the case over to the European Council, made up of the bloc’s leaders, for a final decision, according to Newsweek; Members of parliament cannot impose sanctions on an individual at their sole discretion.
One EU official told Newsweek that it would be necessary to implicate Carlson for his ties to Russia’s war effort, which would be “difficult and hard to prove.” Still, other former and current EU parliament members insist Carlson is aiding in Russia’s hostilities and needs to face consequences for it.
“He is no longer a newsman, but a propagandist for the most heinous regime on European soil and the one which is most dangerous to our peace and security,” former parliament member Luis Garicano told Newsweek.
Carlson said on Wednesday he did not interview Putin out of support for the dictator but rather because he felt the need to show the U.S. and the West about aspects of the war. Carlson feels that Western media has left important aspects of the war out of their coverage and said most people are either misinformed or not informed at all about the issue.
Carlson also warned that the war in Ukraine has “reshaped the global military and trade alliances” that have “upended the world economy.” He criticized Western media for positively portraying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “demand that the U.S. enter more deeply into a war in Eastern Europe and pay for it.”
The EEAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
