The Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), Věra Jourová, warns of the risks of Russian interference in the elections to the German Bundestag, which will take place next year.
Jourová stated this in an interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
She emphasized that Europe is currently living “in a new era of hostile influence.”
“I fear that Voice of Europe is a blueprint for further operations – including in the run-up to next year’s general election. This fake media outlet is probably only the tip of the iceberg,” the EC vice-president said, referring to the platform involved in the influence campaign during the elections to the European Parliament, which spread Russian propaganda in the EU.
Jourová noted that when it comes to Russian disinformation, Germany, France and Poland are under extreme pressure.
Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin is trying to invest precisely in these Central European countries, “because he hopes to get a big profit from a change in public opinion,” she pointed out.
Jourová called for greater resistance in the EU: “Because the danger is becoming even greater.”
According to Czech special services, the Voice of Europe website was used to spread anti-Ukrainian propaganda and disinformation at the behest of Viktor Medvedchuk, against whom the Czech Republic imposed sanctions. In May 2024, the media company was included in the sanctions list of the European Union.
