EU Response to Disinformation from Russia on COVID-19: three Lessons

Abstract

Russia’s disinformation campaigns on COVID-19 are testing the EU. The more the Russian state consolidates around the idea of a weak West, the more likely it will continue to target the EU with such onslaughts. Angela Merkel’s recent announcement that Russia was behind the 2015 cyberattacks on the Bundestag and the upcoming German presidency of the EU Council starting July 1 give the EU the opportunity to revise its strategic communication priorities on both the coronavirus pandemic and its own future.