European Commission Vice-President Jourová says disinformation from Russia is gaining strength in the run-up to the EP elections

Jourová made the remarks in an interview with the Czech News Agency (ČTK). She recently presented a report to her colleagues at the Commission on how disinformation is impacting the functioning of society in the EU.

“We have assessed this as a security risk,” the commissioner from the Czech Republic said. “This is not about unpleasant opinions or criticism, and it’s not about something that seems not nice to us but is covered by freedom of speech. We’re talking about disinformation campaigns aiming to abuse some sensitive matters and to reduce people’s trust in democracy and its institutions.”

According to the commissioner, “our main enemy, Russia” is behind most of this disinformation. She says Moscow is not just at war with Ukraine, but is waging an information war “with all of us”.

The aim of the report, which also maps the subject of disinformation campaigns in various countries, was to draw the attention of her fellow commissioners to this topic so they won’t underestimate it. “Let’s take care of our data, each of us in our sector. The themes repeat themselves, they are green policy, climate change, migration, minorities, the proper conduct of elections and naturally a lot of very false information about Ukraine,” Jourová said.

The European Commission Vice-President is anticipating disinformation campaigning to intensify a few days prior to the elections to the European Parliament, which are being held from 6-9 June. “We might see some new, better-targeted shots, because it is possible to say that Putin uses disinformation as a weapon and makes no secret of it. In 2017 to came to light that disinformation is part of their military doctrine,” she said.

Jourová is the EU Commissioner for Values and Transparency and is also currently in charge of the justice portfolio. According to her, the Baltic countries are under enormous pressure from disinformation, as are the countries of the former Soviet bloc, where a certain sentiment for days gone by does exist.

“It is possible to say that this applies to Slovakia, Bulgaria. Hungary is a chapter in and of itself, in Poland disinformation campaigns have now started to be more intensively developed alleging refugees from Ukraine are a big burden on the state, and we know the Czech situation,” Jourová named the Member States at risk.

The European Commission has also identified specific narratives which appear in the disinformation campaigns in each EU Member States. According to a document made available to ČTK, much of the untrue allegations in the Czech Republic coming through the Internet in particular are about Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

A video is circulating through social media, for example, falsely accusing Ukraine of poisoning birds in Poland with contaminated grain. According to a survey conducted by the Central Europe Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO), between January and April 2024 the disinformation narratives related to the EP elections had the greatest reach when they revolved around the Green Deal for Europe, cultivation of lab-grown meat in the EU, and an alleged ban on repairing old automobiles EU-wide.

In association with the migration pact, the disinformation involves allegations about compulsory quotas for migrants being instituted. As far as domestic subjects go, the survey also revealed that more than 20 % of people in the Czech Republic encounter fake news about the murderer who first killed people in the Klánovice Forest and then committed a mass shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague, killing 14 people last December, allegedly being of Ukrainian origin.

According to Jourová, the Russians use simple methods in their disinformation campaigns. “They create a channel that looks trustworth, for example, Voice of Europe,” she said, referencing a media platform which the Czech Republic has accused of disseminating Russian propaganda, placing it on a sanctions list.

“Such a channel functions normally for some time and then is used to disseminate an enormous amount of deceptive claims,” Jourová said. In her view, people in the EU are currently living in an uneasy time and have been impacted by a large number of crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“There is a large degree of uncertainty, anxiety and fear here. My message to people is to not believe reports that increase your fears, the purveyors of disinformation do not have your interests at heart,” the EU commissioner said.