The European Union accused Russia and China of carrying out disinformation campaigns on the coronavirus pandemic targeted against the bloc, the European Commission said in a fresh Democracy Action Plan published on Thursday, calling on Brussels for a collective response
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) The European Union accused Russia and China of carrying out disinformation campaigns on the coronavirus pandemic targeted against the bloc, the European Commission said in a fresh Democracy Action Plan published on Thursday, calling on Brussels for a collective response.
"Foreign actors and certain third countries (in particular Russia and China) have engaged in targeted influence operations and disinformation campaigns around COVID-19 in the EU, its neighbourhood and globally, seeking to undermine democratic debate, exacerbate social polarisation and improve their own image. When foreign actors use manipulative tactics to mislead EU citizens for their own gain, the threat to democracy demands a comprehensive, collective response," the document read.
The action plan, however, lacks any examples of Russian or Chinese disinformation campaigns. Beijing has repeatedly stated that from the very beginning of the pandemic, it had adhered to an open and transparent position on publishing the coronavirus-related data. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on his part, has said that the European Union failed to provide a single evidence of Moscow's alleged disinformation about the pandemic.
Notably this time, Brussels has acknowledged its own disinformation flaws.
"The new threat landscape calls for even closer cooperation within the EU, with relevant stakeholders in civil society, academia and private industry, and with international partners. Only by pooling existing knowledge on hybrid threats across different sectors can the EU develop the comprehensive understanding of the threat landscape that it needs to respond effectively to disinformation and influence operations," the action plan read.
In June of this year, the European Commission issued a similar document on the response to the disinformation spread during the pandemic, claiming that the COVID-19 vaccination was going to be the next battleground for such campaigns. Back then, Brussels stated that it had sufficient evidence of Russia's and China's involvement in the disinformation.
Russia emerged as a leader in vaccine development with two of its products, Sputnik V, developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, and EpiVacCorona, developed by Siberia's research center Vector, completing Phase 3 clinical trials.
