AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): On December 15, 2025, the European Union imposed official sanctions on Jacques Baud, a former Swiss intelligence officer and ex-NATO employee, in a decision taken without any judicial charges, without a court proceeding, and without affording him the right to defense. European officials justified the move by accusing him of adhering to “Russian propaganda,” an allegation Baud rejects, stating that his analyses are based on Western and Ukrainian sources rather than Russian ones.
Baud has become a well-known figure in analytical circles in recent years due to his professional background at NATO and his field research on the Ukraine crisis, particularly developments preceding February 2022. In numerous books, articles, and interviews, he has challenged the dominant Western media narrative of an “unprovoked Russian invasion,” emphasizing the need to examine the earlier context of the crisis, including developments following the 2014 events in Kyiv.
Baud has repeatedly stressed that he has not relied on Russian sources for his arguments. Instead, he says he has drawn on official Ukrainian sources, including statements from Ukraine’s security services and military officials. In 2014, while serving at NATO and tasked with reviewing claims about Russian arms transfers to the Donbas region, he concluded that intelligence provided by some Western services did not align with reports from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and that there was no evidence of large-scale weapons transfers or the presence of Russian military units.
According to Baud, much of the arming of separatist forces in eastern Ukraine resulted from Russian-speaking units of the Ukrainian army joining them. He has also cited official Ukrainian statements to reject claims of an organized presence of Russian military forces in Donbas. These views, reiterated in an interview in September 2024, were deemed by the European Union as adherence to “Russian propaganda.”
Baud has also pointed to developments leading up to the start of Russia’s military operation in February 2022, including President Volodymyr Zelensky’s March 2021 order to retake Crimea and southern Ukraine, as well as statements by Oleksiy Arestovych, Zelensky’s former adviser, who spoke of the likelihood of war with Russia in the context of Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.
One direct consequence of the sanctions has been severe restrictions on Baud’s daily life in Brussels. He has said that the freezing of payments has left him unable even to purchase food or receive financial assistance from outside Belgium. According to him, his only means of meeting basic needs is in-person help from friends and acquaintances.
In another interview, Baud emphasized that the sanctions decision was a purely political act by the EU Council of Foreign Ministers, with no judicial authority involved. He said his only available option is to appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which, even if it finds the sanctions unjustified, can only recommend that the Council reconsider its decision.
Sanctions as a Tool to Silence Critical Voices
The case of Jacques Baud is only one example in a growing list of journalists, researchers, and activists who have been sanctioned by the European Union over their positions or reporting on Ukraine, Donbas, Crimea, or other sensitive issues. Reports indicate that dozens of individuals have been targeted without transparent evidence or proof of financial ties to Russia.
Meanwhile, a petition signed by various activists and researchers has called for the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed on Baud and other journalists and academics, stressing that expressing critical views on the Ukraine war or NATO policies does not constitute a crime. The petition describes the sanctions as a tool to silence dissenting voices and as evidence of the European Union’s departure from its professed principles of freedom of expression.
Despite these pressures, Baud believes the sanctions have had the opposite effect, increasing public attention to his views. He argues that restricting voices not only fails to suppress them but can also enhance their visibility and perceived credibility.
Unconditional Alignment With the United States
Baud’s case, critics argue, illustrates that the European Union spares no effort in pursuing and complying with the United States’ war-driven strategies, sanctioning even the smallest critical or truth-seeking voices. This comes as the EU itself has suffered significant losses as a result of these same U.S.-led strategies. One prominent example cited is the halt of Russian gas imports to Germany. Last year, the pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany was destroyed by what were described as professional forces—an act that, according to critics, benefited only the United States, leaving the European Union with no alternative but to import energy from America.
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