RT’s global outreach makes it an enemy in the eyes of the West, historian Alexander Markovics has said

The latest US sanctions against RT is a panic reaction resulting from the West’s slipping grip on the narrative in the global news arena, according to Alexander Markovics, the head of the Suworow Institute in Vienna.

The Austrian historian and publicist spoke to RT in an interview on Friday, just hours after the US announced that it had sanctioned the news organization. James Rubin, the head of State Department propaganda and intelligence, accused RT earlier in the day of hindering support for Ukraine worldwide.

“One of the reasons… why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as one might expect… is because of the broad scope and reach of RT,” Rubin claimed.

Markovics said the US accuses Russia of what Washington itself is doing – “spreading propaganda and disinformation” globally. Meanwhile, RT provides people in Europe, Africa, and Latin America with “a second opinion.”

“If you only listened to European and American news about the war in Ukraine, you would believe that Ukraine is winning and that sooner or later, Russia will collapse under the weight of Western sanctions,” he said.

Markovics believes the latest repression against RT is “just a panic reaction” driven by the West’s fear of “losing the game.”

It’s losing the game of information warfare, therefore censoring every kind of opposition still available.

“RT, with its extensive global outreach, is seen as an enemy by Western propaganda,” he added.

Markovics dismissed the claim that Western news outlets serve democracy better than their Russian counterparts, noting that the American media has repeatedly been caught lying. He cited the false claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which led to the deaths of over 1 million people during the US-led invasion of the country. “They lied about Afghanistan, they lied about Libya; their actions have resulted in the deaths of millions.”

The different message provided by RT resonates in the Global South, Markovics said. Many people in Africa and Latin America “appreciate this variety and difference in news,” without which they would be subjected to a Western media monopoly, he added.

Watch the full interview here: