Russian Information Warfare in the European Union

Abstract

The European Union is one of Russia's prime subjects in the modern information war. Russia targets the EU using both covert and overt disinformation methods, while thematically focusing on divisive topics like member state sovereignty and the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to other international actors, the EU's policy response has been relatively robust, focusing on increasing its populace's media literacy and working with tech companies to regulate disinformation on their platforms. Although ahead of many others, coordination and implementation issues inherent to the EU's structure have limited its ability to counter Russian disinformation in certain areas. This article aims to use the EU as a case study to contribute to the literature around viable policy options for combating Russian information warfare operations.