RUSSIA-EU Russia, the Balkans and the European elections

A European-American coordination mechanism for the Western Balkans will specifically address the fight against information manipulation and propaganda orchestrated by Moscow. Opposition is especially acute in the area through which Russian gas pipelines pass.

Sofia () – The American State Department and the European Foreign Service have announced the launch of an American-European coordination mechanism for the Western Balkans, which will specifically deal with the fight against information manipulation, foreign information, manipulation and interference (Fimi), dezinformatsija and propaganda orchestrated by Russia. According to the statement, Fimi intends to “strengthen the integrity of the information space” in this especially sensitive area.

The decision to take the initiative in this field is an attempt to stop foreign intrusion in the face of major electoral events, such as that of the European Parliament at the end of this week, in which a strong intensification of propaganda orchestrated by the Kremlin has been observed. to try to divide the forces of the camp and weaken the entire EU system. Expressing the great discontent of the European institutions, especially in the Balkans, Bulgarian MEP Aleksandr Jordanov stated that “Russian agents hammer home the prediction that the EU will break up, that the countries that join it will lose their national sovereignty and that European values ​​are alien to the traditions of the people, theses that resonate even within the parliament itself.

Already at the end of April, MEPs had approved a resolution in which they “resolutely condemned” attempts to interfere and sabotage European democratic processes, fueled by Russian support. Parliament declared itself “dismayed” by the proven accusations of payments by some MEPs to spread Russian propaganda, and by the fact that some of them participated in the activities of Kremlin-controlled media such as Voice of Europe, just when Russia multiplied its attacks against Ukraine. In particular, the arrest of the assistant to the Alternative for Germany deputy, Maximilian Krah, who was suspected of receiving money from Moscow and collaborating with the Chinese secret services, caused a stir.

Following this incident, the EuNews newsletter reported the fact that “while the European Union raises the level of attention on the risks of disinformation and foreign interference on the eve of the European elections, some Member States continue not to apply the measures approved two years ago against Russia and its propaganda channels such as Sputnik and RT, whose branches are still active in some European capitals. These materials are paradoxically available directly through the press room of the European Commission in Brussels.

Despite the closure of Russian media in Europe, the dissemination of Kremlin propaganda “has never been so active,” notes EuNews, “both in the quantity and quality of these campaigns,” as a senior official underlines. of the EU, which shows that ‘we were not prepared to respond adequately’. Disinformation methods are constantly being perfected, using increasingly powerful and refined tools, such as artificial intelligence, launching transversal content on different platforms at the same time. It is Russia’s “hybrid war”, sustained by computer hacking, espionage, propaganda and sabotage, up to attacks and assassinations.

As analyst Ivan Klyšč of the Estonian International Defense and Security Center writes, “the fundamental objective of this war is to annihilate the strength of spirit of European societies, starting with the question of support for Ukraine.” These are true acts of war, which break the boundaries between war and peace, creating the dilemma of how to react. Many European governments are trying to adopt appropriate strategies, and in Balkan countries like Bulgaria the opposition is especially acute, since it is also the area through which Russian gas pipelines pass to Europe, and as the former Prime Minister of Sofia, Nikolaj Denkov, says, « “On this battlefield the Europeans must decide to attack.”