DISINFO: EU is increasingly interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs
SUMMARY
The EU has multiplied its attempts to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs by pressuring it with sanctions and influencing the socio-political situation in the country. Based on official documents and statements by the EC, EP, and the EEAS, the EU clearly intends to continue sponsoring certain political groups in Russia under the guise of supporting so-called “civil society”. Josep Borrell, who has been entrusted by the European Council with advancing the EU’s infrastructure for interference in Russia, stated in June 2021 that the EU will search for new avenues to support its proteges in Russia. Information attacks by foreign media and agents targeting the legitimacy of Russia’s general elections have also increased. A case in point was the report by the foreign agency “Golos”, which included invented numbers and manipulative assessments.
RESPONSE
A pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that accuses the EU of interfering in Russia’s domestic affairs, but does not provide any tangible evidence to support this claim. This message is consistent with the wider disinformation campaign claiming that any sort of civil discontent or even basic monitoring of government policies in Russia is not genuine and fueled from the outside, specifically by the West, for supposedly nefarious purposes.
The EU’s sanctions against Russia and EU support for civil society in Russia are a response to Kremlin’s aggressive and illiberal policies at home and abroad. Russia’s consistent and increasingly intimidating breaches of international law, such as its involvement in the ongoing war in Ukraine and its intelligence operations against Western states, go against the legal commitments Russia has made to the EU, the Council of Europe, and the wider international community. The Kremlin’s intelligence operations (including assassinations, sabotage, espionage, and disinformation campaigns) in EU member states, such as in Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Poland, and elsewhere, represent an active threat to the EU, both materially and ideologically.
The falsehood that civil discontent and liberal movements in Russia are directed from the West is meant to hide the fact that a significant number of Russian citizens are frustrated with the systematic oppression of civil society in Russia. Any organisation that challenges Kremlin’s undemocratic model is officially classified as a “foreign agent” by Kremlin and vilified by Kremlin-controlled mass media.
Notably, the Movement for Defence of Voters' Rights "Golos", which is the only remaining election monitoring NGO in Russia not connected to the Kremlin, was the first organisation to have its activities temporarily suspended in 2013 under Russia’s “foreign agent” law after exposing the government’s fraud in the 2011 general elections. Golos continues to be subject to political repression by the government through all manner of inspections and raids by public bodies, including the police.
The European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), Josep Borrell, presented a Joint communication on EU-Russia relations on 16 June 2021. The communication asserted support for civil society and human rights defenders in Russia as one of the five guiding principles governing EU policy vis-à-vis Russia as established in 2016. This commitment is an investment in the future of a democratic Russian society as it enhances universal rights, media literacy, social equality, democratic standards and research and development. Importantly, it also stabilizes EU-Russia relations by attempting to increase cooperation in scientific research, labour and student mobility, and other fields.
Read similar cases of disinformation in the database claiming that gross US interference in the internal affairs of Russia is a proven fact, that the Bundestag resolution on the victims of Nazism is interference in Russian internal affairs, that there was massive foreign interference in the voting for the Constitution in Russia and that there was an unprecedented level of foreign interference in the election to the Moscow City Duma.