EU Commission President denounces Russia misinformation against democracies – JURIST
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denounced Russia’s alleged hybrid cyberattacks attacks against European democracies on Saturday, stating that the EU is constantly fighting misinformation.
The statement comes a week after von der Leyen accused Russia of interfering with Moldova’s narrowly approved vote on joining the EU. On Saturday she stated that “it is possible for us to stand up with the truth and with transparency and with very clear messaging… [to] counter a hybrid attack that Russia is leading against democracies.”
The declarations come amid heightened political tensions in Georgia, following Saturday’s controversial election victory of pro-Russian Bidzina Ivanishvili. The EU has expressed concerns about the potential impact this will have on Georgia’s democratic trajectory.
In 2015, the EU launched EUvsDisinfo project which aims to tackle Russian disinformation campaigs targeting the EU and its neighbors. Through extensive media monitoring in 15 languages, EUvsDisinfo identifies Kremlin-backed disinformation, compiling over 6,500 cases in an open-source database.
Earlier in September, following several attacks against the Harris campaign, the US State Department stated that Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns aim to destabilize democracies by flooding them with false narratives that erode trust in institutions, distort facts and encourage divisions. According to the department, Russia uses fake news outlets and social media manipulation in an attempt to advance its strategic goals against democracies.
Additionally, the US The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against state-run Russian media RT amid accusations of engaging in cover operations to influence elections worldwide.
Von der Leyen made these remarks during her visit in the Republic of Kosovo, where she announced more than €880 million in aid to the country under the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
