DISINFO: Europe is planning war on Russia
SUMMARY
Is Europe gearing up for a war on Russia in the near future? Well, according to many European elites and their pliant legacy media, that is exactly the plan. Why Russia is a threat is never really explained. In fact, NATO is the greatest threat to European security.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about warmongering, the European Union, NATO, destabilising Russia and the victimisation of Russia, aiming to discredit Europe’s military readiness initiatives, namely the so-called ReArm Europe/Readiness 2023 programme by portraying them as aggressive moves precluding an attack.
There is no European plan to launch a war against Russia. The aim of Europe's programme is not to attack Russia, but rather “to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine [and] address the long-term need to take on much more responsibility for [its] own European security.” The plans aim to ensure Europe’s self-defence capabilities, mostly through a fiscal plan to boost and fund this military enhancement. Contrary to what this disinformation story claims, Russia’s threat and ongoing aggression against Ukraine and Europe is one of the driving forces behind this plan, not the other way round.
Russia’s threat is real, as proven by its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the dozens of sabotage operations it has carried out throughout the continent in the last years, and its attempts to destabilise multiple countries through electoral interference, cyberattacks and other hybrid actions. Russia has been rearming for some years at a much faster pace than NATO. The country’s military expenditure reached over 6.7% of its GDP in 2025, over 40% more than the previous year. That is 32% of its total budget for the year. However, this disinformation story ignores all these elements, creating a grossly distorted picture that it uses to advance pro-Kremlin messaging against NATO and Europe.
NATO is a political and military alliance whose mission is the collective defence of its member states. It has a policy of deterrence and defence, not of aggression.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that ReArm Europe means the EU is preparing to attack Russia, that the EU is now a military union preparing to enter into a war with Russia, that the EU is preparing a war against Russia led by Germany, that ReArm Europe is accompanied by a false Russophobic narrative about a belligerent Russia, or that NATO plans to attack Russia.