Federica Mogherini ‘soft’ on disinformation, critics say

Federica Mogherini’s unit working to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda strategies — known as the East StratCom team — has a problem. Unfortunately for Mogherini, it’s her.

Activists, analysts, foreign ministries and political opponents in the European People’s Party have piled pressure on the EU foreign policy chief — from Italy’s center-left Democratic Party — for what they say is her lukewarm support for EU efforts to combat disinformation blamed on Russia.

MEP Siegfried Mureşan, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator for the 2018 EU budget, who is due to meet with members of the East StratCom team Thursday, is considering granting the team €1 million in parliamentary “pilot project” funding.

Concern about Russian disinformation has peaked in Europe this year off the back of attempts to influence elections in the United States and the EU. MEPs are particularly concerned about elections for the European Parliament in 2019.

Such new funding would boost a team which — despite vocal endorsements from many EU governments — has no discretionary budget from Mogherini’s European External Action Service.

Very important work done by @EUvsDisinfo in spite of scarce resources. Countering fake news and disinformation. You should follow.

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) March 22, 2017

The Russian Embassy to the UK recruits volunteers to help amplify Twitter bots: https://t.co/9XQPvKD50w pic.twitter.com/mSv0ZlULWk

— EU Mythbusters (@EUvsDisinfo) March 21, 2017

Ben Nimmo, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a signatory of an open letter organized by the European Values think tank that called Mogherini “irresponsibly weak” on the issue, said Mogherini was carrying out “the most token of token efforts” against disinformation.

“The East StratCom team is tiny,” he said.

Nimmo said the team relies on staff loaned from EU member countries and POLITICO sources said that in countries like Ukraine and Georgia, much of the team’s information gathering is carried out by volunteers.

“It’s known that she (Mogherini) is not keen,” said an EU official familiar with the East StratCom team’s work. “She is considered to be soft on Russia compared to others in the Commission, or what some Eastern countries would like. Officials who work on these issues get no support from her.”

Mogherini told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour this week that European societies have “wisdom to make the right choices” in the face of Russian disinformation and cyber warfare, and took credit for setting up the East StratCom team in 2015, at the request of the European Council.

Mogherini’s team say that the team grew from two people to 10 in the course of 2015, and that in November 2016 national governments blocked a European Parliament request for additional staff. That decision by national governments limited what resources Mogherini could squeeze from existing budgets.

Maja Kocijančič, a spokesperson for Mogherini, said “the identification, analysis and awareness-raising activities of the task force is a complementary effort” that requires more investment from national governments. “Fake news or disinformation is an increasing — and very real — problem in Europe and globally. We take it very seriously,” she added.

Sandra Kalniete, a Lativan EPP MEP, who was born in Siberia and active in the Baltic independence movement since the early 1990s, told Playbook: “In a world where Donald Trump becomes a purveyor of RT (Russia Today) disinformation, I don’t believe the EU can afford to save on strategic communication, information literacy and critical thinking.”

“We cannot just keep on stating intentions and work with a understaffed unit in the EEAS when our democracies are under threat” — MEP Siegfried Mureşan

Mureşan said he was “deeply disappointed at the EEAS’ meagre efforts to counter the Russian information warfare on European countries.”

“It is unacceptable that our societies are under daily assault from Russian propaganda machine. We cannot just keep on stating intentions and work with a understaffed unit in the EEAS when our democracies are under threat,” he said.

The EPP’s annual congress in Malta on March 29 and 30 is expected to adopt a resolution on “Russian disinformation undermining Western democracy.”

One country which is a firm supporter of East StratCom is Estonia, where the foreign ministry told POLITICO: “The task force is doing an excellent job in exposing and explaining Russian disinformation.” Tallinn wants to have better resources, starting with “permanent staff and sustainable budget.”

Recurring narrative of threats of nuclear accidents is back on the pro-Kremlin disinformation agenda #DisinfoReview: https://t.co/EwZf3jwHZV pic.twitter.com/RtcbGoeSZv

— EU Mythbusters (@EUvsDisinfo) March 16, 2017