The High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, presented the report of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on foreign interference and disinformation campaigns aimed at influencing electoral processes.
On January 23, Borrell stated that this report comes at a sensitive and crucial time, as many countries worldwide, including those in the EU and the United States, will undergo electoral processes this year.
With this report, Borrell has proposed measures to prevent negative influences on democratic processes from actors seeking manipulation and disinformation.
During the presentation of the report, the EU’s chief diplomat emphasized that the threats from foreign influences in the modern world are growing and must be taken seriously.
“There are bombs that can kill, poisons that can harm, but how to address manipulation and interference in campaigns is a major challenge,” he said, adding that Russia, in a sophisticated and industrialized manner, has been engaged in disinformation campaigns for years.
“We are aware of this threat because information and disinformation spread at the speed of light,” he said.
Borrell specifically mentioned the Western Balkan states as “victims” of such manipulative attacks.
The EU’s report on disinformation and manipulation campaigns comes on the eve of elections in several countries.
Close to 400 million European citizens will vote between June 6 and 9 in the European elections to elect new Members of the European Parliament. The outcome of this vote will also determine the distribution of key positions in EU institutions.
Russia and China are mentioned as key actors involved in interference and manipulation campaigns, using communication channels to spread disinformation for various purposes, including economic motives, according to the EU.
The report by the EU’s specialized units on this issue has identified 750 incidents in a one-year period, from November 2022 to December 2023.
Targets of such interventions have included international organizations, specific states, and individuals. Experts found that 59 individuals were major targets of verbal attacks, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky being the most targeted, followed by French President Emmanuel Macron, EU Chief Diplomat Josep Borrell, as well as well-known artists like Nicolas Cage and Margot Robbie.
About 30% of the attacks were directed at 140 different international organizations, including the EU, NATO, and the United Nations, according to the report.
Telegram and X, formerly known as Twitter, were the most frequently used platforms for such actions. These platforms were used for external interventions, and several other smaller platforms were also utilized.
The EU has identified the Western Balkans as a region where foreign actors have focused their efforts on interference, especially in electoral processes.
The report mentions Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, where attempts at interference in electoral processes have been identified. In the parliamentary elections in Montenegro and local elections in Kosovo, efforts to influence these processes were observed.
In Kosovo, in four northern municipalities with a Serbian majority, local Serbs boycotted the local elections held in April of the previous year.
Among specific states, Ukraine has been the most frequent target of disinformation campaigns, with 16 identified cases. The United States followed with 58 cases, followed by Poland, Germany, France, and Serbia.
EU experts have stated that such efforts will not stop and may increase on the eve of the European Parliament elections and the presidential elections in the United States. Therefore, they have called for active measures at both the EU member state and collective levels to prevent or combat such negative campaigns. The EU emphasizes that these efforts endanger democratic order and the values of the European bloc.
The EU’s report comes a few days after a senior U.S. official warned that Washington believes Russia will conduct “information operations” to turn European opinion against Ukraine.
James Rubin, special envoy and coordinator at the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center, told reporters on January 18 that the United States’ adversaries, Russia and China, are working worldwide to present their state propaganda as independent journalism, concealing the true source.
Rubin did not specifically mention the names of the states for which he expressed concern. However, he stated that the main threats during this year are in Europe, which initially stood united against Russia’s war on Ukraine in 2022, offering military and other assistance to Ukraine.
