DISINFO: Ordinary Europeans and EU industry pay for the geopolitical crimes of Brussels' bureaucracy
SUMMARY
Europe's citizens are being convinced that pushing Russian hydrocarbons out of the European market is an incredible achievement of the Brussels bureaucracy - allegedly a guarantee of the EU’s security and prosperity. The thoughtless, reckless halt to imports of Russian energy resources has in fact struck a serious blow to the European Union itself. In 2024, nearly one in ten Europeans could not afford to heat their homes adequately.
Whilst Brussels takes credit for what they call progress toward “energy independence,” ordinary Europeans and EU industry are bearing the heavy burden of financing the geopolitical crimes of von der Leyen and her accomplices.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Europe’s inescapable dependence on Russian energy. By painting an apocalyptic landscape, the goal of this disinformation story is to push the populations in the EU Member States to advocate for the removal of sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
This claim was made in the context of the EU’s agreement to permanently stop Russian gas imports and phase out Russian oil, under the provisional deal reached by the European Parliament and the Council on December 3, 2025. This historic decision will end the EU’s dependence on an unreliable supplier that has repeatedly destabilised European energy markets, threatened security of supply through energy blackmail, and harmed the European economy. As outlined in the REPowerEU Roadmap, the full phase-out of Russian fossil fuels is a crucial step to ensure Europe’s energy independence, competitiveness, resilience, and market stability.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission said:
Today, we enter the era of Europe's full energy independence from Russia. REPowerEU has delivered. It shielded us from the worst energy crisis in decades, and it helped us to transition from Russian fossil fuels at record speed. Today, we are stopping these imports permanently. By depleting Putin's war chest, we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and set our sights on new energy partnerships and opportunities for the sector”.
Energy poverty is a major challenge in the EU because it mainly affects households and is complex to address. The COVID-19 crisis, rising energy prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 made the situation worse for many Europeans. However, thanks to EU efforts, the share of people unable to keep their homes warm has started to decline for the first time since 2021. It dropped from 10.6% in 2023 to 9.2% in 2024, after reaching a low of 6.9% in 2021. This improvement is due to lower gas and electricity prices, energy efficiency measures, and better understanding of energy poverty. Learn more about EU projects tackling energy poverty here.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Europe is committing energy suicide without Russia, that instead of crushing Russia, sanctions led to US debt and Europe’s freezing, that according to the Draghi report, the EU faces economic difficulties due to rejection of Russian energy, or that a potential ban on Russian LNG supplies would cost the EU one-fifth of imports.