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The continent is starkly split down the middle over the thorny question of relations with Russia, with the east seeking a tough approach and the west pressing for warmer ties. This shocking map, produced by independent experts, shines the harshest of lights on one of the most heated internal disputes which is threatening to boil over into a diplomatic crisis for Brussels.

Vote Watch Europe/Getty/AFP Europe is starkly divided over how to deal with Russia

It shows how MEPs from each member state voted on a controversial proposal this week to target Russian news outlets, which some eurocrats believe are spreading Kremlin propaganda across the EU. The measure, which will expand the operations of a so-called anti-propaganda unit in Brussels, was passed after politicians from across eastern Europe ganged up with Germany to force it through.

Vote Watch Europe The map, produced by experts Vote Watch Europe, reveals huge differences between east and west

But the provocative proposal, which is likely to go down badly in Moscow, was vociferously opposed by representatives from France, Italy, the Iberian peninsula and Britain. The result of the vote, and the stark geographical divide it prompted, will be seen as further evidence of the growing influence of eastern European nations in Brussels at the expense of the union’s founding members. The only nation in eastern Europe to vote against the measure was pro-Moscow Bulgaria, where politicians sympathetic to Russia are on the march and the EU’s popularity is waning. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the highest level of support for the proposal were in the Baltic states and Poland, where there are growing fears about Mr Putin’s sabre-rattling.

In contrast the strongest opposition was in France, Italy and Greece, three countries which have openly called for Brussels-led sanctions against Russia to be watered down or even scrapped. The EU slapped an embargo on Moscow, which included asset freezes of prominent government members, in response to Mr Putin’s meddling in Ukraine and the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. But splits have recently begun to emerge between EU member states over whether the punitive measures should be continued - divisions likely to be exacerbated further if US President-elect Donald Trump drops US sanctions against the Kremlin. Analysis by the Vote Watch Europe website, which created the map, also shows which political parties within the European Parliament supported the measure, and which opposed it.

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