(Bloomberg) -- The European Union will discuss a plan from Poland to push back against a disinformation campaign spearheaded by Russia that it says is taking hold in the US and souring transatlantic relations.
Europe is bracing for a potential return to the White House of Donald Trump, whose skeptical comments about NATO and lukewarm backing for Ukraine’s self-defense have rankled leaders across the continent.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg News, the Republican presidential candidate also decried the US trade deficit with the EU - some $131 billion in 2022 - revisiting one of the themes of his first administration.
“The European Union sounds so lovely,” Trump said. “But once you get past that, they treat us violently.”
Poland’s proposed initiative has been added to the agenda of a meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named.
A document outlining the initiative, seen by Bloomberg, calls for a campaign to better inform Americans about the EU and the value of strong transatlantic relations, as the US election nears.
“False narratives have been flooding American media outlets — both traditional and online — and influencing how the American public perceives European countries and the EU as a whole,” according to the document.
Poland says those efforts are directed both at the EU in general and at specific topics, such as the alleged unfairness of bilateral trade, the level of European spending on defense, and support for Ukraine.
It also notes that older Americans across the political spectrum tend to have more favorable views of the EU than younger Americans, and that the US public consistently views individual European nations more warmly than the bloc itself.
To counter Kremlin disinformation, Poland proposes “scaling up our debunking” with “campaigns which set the record straight about where Europe stands today and about the benefits of diplomacy, collective security and open society.”
Among these would an effort to raise awareness among the American public about the level of European aid to Ukraine. The idea that Europe is paying too little for its own security while enjoying the security umbrella provided by the US is a staple of Republican criticism of European allies.
“Americans’ views of the EU, and almost any other international issue, are refracted through a prism of their sense that the United States is a victim in world affairs,” according to the document.
“If Moscow can encourage isolationist tendencies among Americans, persuade them the United States has no real interests worth fighting for in Europe,” then Moscow could win a hybrid war “all across the West” in addition to a military one in Ukraine.”
Poland called on the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, to coordinate the effort, which it says should be carried out by existing entities such as the EU delegation in Washington, the European Commission, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and individual member states.
Initiatives could include increased monitoring of narratives about the EU and its members ahead of the US elections, and preparing common messaging to use with US partners. They also include active outreach efforts to partners in the incoming administration, members of Congress, and public opinion leaders.
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