Russian disinformation campaigns are a familiar sight in Europe. Brussels has long warned of Moscow-led attempts to divide and destabilize the European Union through these strategies, which often rely on the anti-European far right. One of the latest episodes occurred during the recent vote of no confidence against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Kremlin used this event to launch a narrative about the “dysfunctions” of European institutions in an attempt to “polarize and weaken” the EU, according to an analysis by disinformation experts endorsed by Brussels and the EU executive itself.

The vote of no confidence is a “textbook example of the operational methods” of organizations like Pravda Network, also known as Portal Kombat, a Russian disinformation network with more than 100 websites, social media accounts and Telegram channels that aims to manipulate European public opinion, says Amaury Lesplingart, co-founder of Check First. This Finnish company, dedicated to uncovering hoaxes on social media, conducted an exhaustive study of the attempt, earlier this month, to oust the German conservative politician from the EU presidency. The move was led by a Romanian extremist MEP, Gheorghe Piperea, and received the backing of virtually only the most extremist forces in the European Parliament.

The Lithuanian organization Debunk, which analyzes hoaxes mainly in the Baltic countries, Poland, Georgia, and Montenegro, also noted during the motion against Von der Leyen a “strategic grouping” of messages in Russian or pro-Russian media that “suggest the intention to reinforce a broad framework of delegitimization.”

The motion’s main argument was the so-called Pfizergate, a scandal that erupted in April 2021 and stems from Von der Leyen’s refusal to reveal the private messages she exchanged with Pfizer’s boss, Albert Bourla, during the negotiations for multi-billion-dollar Covid-19 vaccine purchases. The massive vaccination campaign facilitated by the EU during the pandemic has been a frequent target of attacks by conspiracy theorists, particularly from the far right.

Piperea, who ultimately garnered 77 votes for his initiative, five more than the required minimum, called for Von der Leyen’s resignation “due to her repeated failures to ensure transparency and her persistent disregard for democratic oversight and the rule of law in the Union.”

According to an analysis of the movements of pro-Kremlin networks specializing in disinformation, “the news network pravda.com did not limit itself to reporting on the vote of confidence against Ursula von der Leyen, but rather crafted a multi-stage political drama that played out across languages, countries, and cultures.” This strategy began months earlier with information and allegations against Von der Leyen’s credibility, which was described as “toxic” and “corrupt,” according to Check First’s analysis. Debunk has also noted two narratives that were spread during this period by pro-Kremlin media and pseudo-media: “Von der Leyen must be ousted” and “she is part of the corrupt elite,” the report, which this newspaper has seen, highlights.

The campaign then relied on the electoral conflict in Romania, where presidential elections were first held in November—and surprisingly won by an independent, Calin Georgescu, an extremist and pro-Russian candidate promoted by the social media platform TikTok—but were annulled by the Constitutional Court after a campaign of “Russian hybrid attacks” was revealed. In a repeat election in May, one of the candidates was the far-right George Simion, sponsored by Georgescu, although the pro-European Nicusor Dan ultimately won.

Disinformation analyses failed to establish that Russia manipulated the Romanian MEP to submit the motion against Von der Leyen. However, it is clear that Russia exploited a narrative spread—and multiplied—on pro-Russian websites as a David-versus-Goliath battle, presented by MEP Piperea as a fight against the Brussels “system” that the “courageous” Simion had initiated. In total, there were nearly 21,000 posts dedicated to the motion of no confidence and its prelude.

“A concerted effort”

These messages, widely disseminated on social media by far-right MEPs and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, suggest “a concerted effort to amplify negative sentiment during a sensitive period for the EU,” presenting, in line with Russian narratives, an “unstable and divided Union, with inefficient leadership,” Debunk adds.

“Narrative operations of foreign information manipulation and interference on an industrial-scale represent a clear and present threat to European democratic discourse,” Lesplingart warns via email. “When a routine parliamentary motion generates more than 20,000 coordinated posts, transforming it into a ‘mass movement against corruption,’ what we are seeing is the instrumentalization of our own democratic processes,” he adds.

Von der Leyen herself denounced this during the parliamentary debate that preceded her vote of no confidence, which she easily overcame. The motion, she stated, is “another crude attempt to drive a wedge between our institutions, between the pro-European, pro-democratic forces” in the European Parliament. She accused the instigators of the initiative of belonging to extremist forces: “We have entered into an age of struggle between democracy and illiberalism … supported by the puppet masters in Russia and elsewhere.”

After learning of the analyses by the expert organizations Check First and Debunk, the Commission is also emphatic: “This is yet another reminder that actors who have proven themselves to be close to Russian state propaganda continue their attempts to polarize and weaken the EU,” said EU spokesperson for technological sovereignty, Thomas Regnier. “They are opportunistically exploiting political events or discussions within the EU to distort political debate, spread conspiracy theories, or discredit European politicians.”

The attempts to manipulate the motion against Von der Leyen come shortly after NATO and the EU expressed their solidarity with the United Kingdom, which announced last Friday a new round of sanctions against three Russian military intelligence units (GRU) and 18 of its members, which it blames for “a sustained campaign of malicious cyberattacks, which has lasted for years and has included the United Kingdom among its targets.”

A report by the EU External Action Service (EEAS) on threats of foreign manipulation and interference highlighted just a few months ago a pattern in the architecture of such actions, particularly by China and Russia, which not only act with the same goal—to destabilize the EU—but do so in an “interconnected” manner, with a desire to amplify their effect.

“European institutions and citizens must understand that every political debate, every procedural vote, every moment of legitimate democratic friction will be exploited, amplified, and distorted by these networks. Recognizing this is the first step toward resilience,” warns the Check First official.

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