The European External Action Service (EEAS) denied on Monday that it had been forced by China to water down its recent report on COVID-19 disinformation, saying that the bloc is "not bowing to any pressure."
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2020) The European External Action Service (EEAS) denied on Monday that it had been forced by China to water down its recent report on COVID-19 disinformation, saying that the bloc is "not bowing to any pressure."
On Friday, the EEAS published its special report on COVID-19 disinformation. On Saturday, Reuters reported, citing sources and diplomatic correspondence, that before the publication, Beijing had pressed the European Union into watering it down. As a result, some criticism toward Beijing was either rearranged in or removed from the final version, according to the news agency.
"I refute very strongly and decisively any notion that we bowed down to any kind of external pressure because the publication of the EEAS is undergoing only through internal processes and their final version or the way how they look when they are published is determined by internal factors, not by external actors. And again we are not bowing to any pressure," Peter Stano, the lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, said at a briefing.
According to Stano, "there was no change, and there were no several versions of this document which was made public."
He at the same time noted that the EU, like any organization, has two types of documents those that are made public and those for internal use, which do differ. The EU, even in public, does "not hesitate to name the trends and to name the actors" involved in disinformation, he added.
