EU extends sanctions against Jacques Baud

The European Union has extended the sanctions against Jacques Baud, a former colonel in the Swiss Army General Staff, who is accused of spreading pro-Russian propaganda, until October 9, 2027. He remains subject to an asset freeze and travel restrictions.

According to official EU documents reported by the French-speaking Swiss online media outlet L’Impertinent, on October 8 the Council of the European Union renewed the sanctions regime against Russia’s “destabilising activities”, which targets 80 individuals and 20 entities.

Added to this list on December 15, 2025, the 71-year-old Brussels resident is accused of his contributions to media outlets described as pro-Russian and of spreading “conspiracy theories”. The EU Council criticises him in particular for accusing Ukraine of having orchestrated its own invasion in order to join NATO.

Initially, Brussels accused him of supporting Russian actions that “undermine or threaten the stability or security of a third country (Ukraine)”. The new text now refers to actions that “undermine democracy and threaten the stability or security of a third country”. Ukraine is no longer explicitly mentioned, and the conjunction “or” has been replaced by “and”. The specific allegations remain unchanged. The EU has not provided any justification for the rewording.

The individual concerned disputes the allegations: “I have never received a single cent from Russia,” he stated in December 2025, notably in an interview with L’Impertinent. The 71-year-old claims to base his analyses on Ukrainian and American sources and disputes, in particular, the interpretation of his statements regarding the Russian invasion. In his view, these statements referred to an interview given in 2019 by Oleksiy Arestovych, who was to become an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Baud brought a case before the General Court of the EU last March seeking the annulment of his inclusion on the list.

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A retired colonel of the General Staff, born in Geneva, Jacques Baud worked for the Swiss secret services from 1983 to 1990, where he was responsible for analysing Warsaw Pact forces. He subsequently held various posts with the UN, notably in Sudan.

Highly critical of the EU’s and Western countries’ policies on the war in Ukraine, Baud has a large online following, particularly on YouTube, where his videos have racked up several million views.

The sanctions are having a serious impact on his daily life. Baud can no longer freely access his bank accounts, particularly to access his pension. He also claims he is unable to leave Belgium.

After several months of restrictions, a humanitarian exemption had allowed him to regain access to his Belgian account from mid-March to the end of June. Since the beginning of July, he says, the funds have once again been inaccessible. A new exemption requested at the start of May was granted by the Belgian authorities at the start of October, but by the middle of the month it had still not been implemented.

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Translated from Italian, reviewed by an English Department journalist.