Spanish politician and former United Left MEP Manu Pineda’s activities and statements seem to have been associated with pro-Russian positions. His political stance belongs to a broader trend among some of the European Parliament’s far-left parties. Left MEPs such as Pineda are generally suspicious of NATO and the EU but advocate for closer ties to Russia.
Pineda has denounced Western policy towards Russia, implying that it helped fuel rising tensions. He has been quoted stating that the U.S. and its allies have engaged in decades of pressure against Russia, indicating a sympathetic view toward Russian perspectives.
Manu Pineda, as MEP, opposed sanctioning Russia, stating,
“Nor can we support sanctions which directly affect the civilian population and which have historically demonstrated their ineffectiveness. Sanctions have never in our lifetimes served to end any conflict.”
The far left in the EP is suspicious of NATO’s efforts to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine. They also strongly resist the EU’s deepening military cooperation with NATO in response to the attack. MEP Manu Pineda expresses such a view: “We are against war and, precisely for this reason, we cannot support a Resolution that calls for arms, and that is referred to as a guarantee of peace in an instrument of war such as NATO.”
In the initial stage of the Russian-Ukraine war, far-left MEPs tend to consider NATO and the USA as collaborators in the conflict, representing them as provocateurs who have forced Russia into invading Ukraine. This description is illustrated in the words of Spanish MEP Manu Pineda: “After decades of policies of pressure and harassment against Russia by the United States and NATO, using the European Union as a tool in the service of these objectives.”
He also generally abstained from voting or voting against anti-Russian resolutions. For example, in 2023, when he was an MEP, he voted against the resolution on the Russian Federation’s torture and criminal prosecution of Ukrainian teenagers Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov. Similarly, in 2022, he was against the European Council conclusions of its 24-25 March 2022 meeting, where the latest developments in the war on Ukraine and the EU sanctions against Russia and their implementation were being debated.
