MOSCOW, August 9. /TASS/. The European Union exploits human rights issues in order to exert pressure and interfere in the domestic affairs of countries who pursue independent policies, Alexey Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department, said during a briefing.

The diplomat referred to the 2022 EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

"We have to state that the document was drawn up entirely in accordance with Brussels’ destructive policy of weaponizing the human rights issue so as to achieve political objectives and promote purely selective approaches in this area," he said.

"The EU does not hesitate to exploit human rights issues to overtly interfere in the domestic affairs of the countries pursuing independent policies, mistakenly believing itself to have the moral high ground to teach others," the diplomat said.

Furthermore, Zaitsev said, Brussels "persistently ignores" the longstanding deterioration of the situation inside the European Union.

"They totally ignore the scale of violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic states, the denial of their right to receive education in their native language, the systematic oppression of journalists and the preserved institution of ‘non-EU citizenship,’ something they apparently see as completely normal," he added.