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Anti-Russian hysteria harms Europe’s interests — Italian journalist Giulietto Chiesa

Hysteria against Russia has nothing to do with Europe’s interests, it is against them, the authoritative journalist and former member of the European Parliament says

Giulietto Chiesa TASS

Giulietto Chiesa

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TALLINN, December 16. /TASS/. Anti-Russian hysteria only harms Europe’s interests, authoritative Italian journalist and former member of the European Parliament Giulietto Chiesa, who was arrested in Estonia on Monday and then ordered to leave the country, said on Tuesday.

“I am here (in Estonia) not to advocate Russia’s interests. Hysteria against Russia has nothing to do with Europe’s interests, it is against them,” he told a news conference before leaving Tallinn. He said he was a “European who is defending Europe’s interests.” “Russia is our friend, never an enemy. It is a colossal market to sell European products. So, I am advocating European interests, and those who call me pro-Kremlin are in fact looking after America’s interests.”

Chiesa arrived in the Estonian capital city Tallinn early on Monday to take part in a conference dedicated to the relations between Russia and Europe but was arrested in his hotel with no reasons given. Later, the police said he was staying in Estonia illegally, since he had been banned from entering that country. He has been in Tallinn twice.

The journalist said Tallinn interpreted the incident as “detention,” whereas it was “nothing but an arrest.” He took a train from Tallinn to Moscow, where he will present his new book Instead of Catastrophe.

Chiesa spent many years in Russia and witnessed the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the birth of new Russia. He visits Russian quite frequently and now he is among the few in Europe who openly speaks about what is going on in Ukraine and where the Ukrainian crisis is rooted in. Chiesa organizes conferences and seminars where he condemns the United States’ policy and warns against one-polar world. The latest such conference took place on December 12 at the national parliament and involved international experts, political observers, commentators.

On December 13, Chiesa organized a roundtable meeting within the framework of the Nobel Peace Prize Winner summit in Rome. The meeting was attended by Federica Mogherini, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Apart from that, Chiesa has launched his own information project aiming to present alternative vision of the developments in eastern Ukraine in contrast to the official European media.

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