The European Union has again expanded its sanctions list. In connection with the war in Ukraine, Colonel Jacques Baud was also on the list.
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Let’s recall what this means. Inclusion on the sanctions list is a political decision that basically makes it impossible for the sanctioned person to live in the EU. He is not allowed to move in the EU, he is not allowed to travel by air through EU airspace. His bank accounts and cash will be frozen in the EU, he may not sell or rent real estate.
He can throw away the bank card. It won’t do him any good.
70-year-old Swiss citizen Jacques Baud has had a respectable career without any blemish. In the 1980s, he worked for the Swiss intelligence service, he was an analyst, his focus was the analysis of the military forces of the Warsaw Pact. In other words, he was working against the Soviets, if you will, against the Russians. He then worked for the United Nations in several African missions in Sudan, Congo and Kenya with the aim of resolving conflicts. He also worked in the political affairs and security policy department at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, where he was in charge of the non-proliferation of light weapons. He has been monitoring the situation in Ukraine since 2014. He also visited Ukraine.
Since his last job was at the NATO headquarters, Jacques Baud lives in Brussels.
The EU sanctions list is available on the Internet. I looked up Colonel Baud on it and looked at the EU’s reasons for imposing sanctions on him. Let’s read:
“Jacques Baud, a former Swiss Army colonel and strategic analyst, is a regular guest on pro-Russian television and radio programs. He acts as a mouthpiece for pro-Russian propaganda and spreads conspiracy theories, such as accusing Ukraine of staging its own invasion to join NATO. Jacques Baud is therefore responsible for carrying out or supporting actions or policies attributable to the government of the Russian Federation that undermine or threaten the stability or security of a third country (Ukraine) by engaging in information manipulation and influence.”
They are three developed sentences and three nonsense at the same time. Let’s notice the first one, about the pro-Russian media. One could mistake the word “pro-Russian” for “Russian”, right?
The editor-in-chief of the weekly “Die Weltwoche” Roger Köppel did a video interview with Jacques Baud four days ago. Baud said he never accepted an invitation to the Russian media, although he received many offers.
And the “pro-Russian” media? My personal experience over ten years is that if you present the facts, the bare facts, which do not suit the modern censors, they will label you “pro-Russian”.
And now for the second sentence, that Baud is conspiring by “accusing Ukraine of organizing its own invasion in order to join NATO”. This is truly bizarre. Baud explained to Köppel what was meant by this. In the past, Baud only quoted Oleksiy Arestovyč, a former adviser to President Zelensky. Arestovych said in an interview with the Ukrainian media even before the Russian invasion that the price for joining NATO is probably a war with Russia, in which, however, Ukraine will have the support of NATO and will not lose.
Baud cited it, and from it EU officials were able to fabricate Baud’s conspiracy charges.
The third sentence is just a generalization of the lies from the previous two. Jacques Baud is responsible for the policy of Russia? By commenting on her?
The indictment of Jacques Baud shows the peculiar dullness of the people who wrote the indictment.
Baud and Köppel say that if we do not understand the conflict, we will not solve it. And in order to understand him, we cannot omit the facts. He says that he did not express views on the Russian-Ukrainian war that would favor the Russian or Ukrainian side. It just explains what each side of the conflict is doing.
I also know Jacques Baud. I saw his appearance in some shows on the Internet and perceived him as a careful analyst who can bring interesting and indisputable facts.
Baud is the author of many books. He says that he gets his facts mainly from Western, American, or Ukrainian media.
However, the problem today is that being an analyst and bringing surprising facts is de facto not allowed. It leads to charges and sanctions. And that’s what happened to Baud.
At the time of the interview with Köppel, Baud had no information about the sanctions from the EU authorities. He only learned from them through the media.
In the interview, he revealed that he received many expressions of support from many friends, acquaintances and strangers. He was visibly moved. That was good news. There is still solidarity between people in the EU.
I wonder what happened to the EU. Even if someone makes a mistake and utters a statement that is untrue, which I don’t know about Baud, is it right to make it completely impossible for him to live a normal life? Does freedom of speech mean nothing anymore? Norwegian political science professor Glenn Diesen commented that the EU is becoming Soviet.
What happened to Colonel Baud can happen to anyone today.
