Foreign Interference

Stop Foreign Power Interference in Europe

Powerful opponents have shown their ability and intent to disrupt Europe’s democratic processes. We need to ramp up our defenses and take the fight to them.

Malicious and authoritarian foreign state and non-state actors, such as Russia, China and some Middle-Eastern states, have repeatedly used information manipulation, intimidation, economic coercion, political funding, corruption, and other tactics to interfere in democratic processes in the EU.

According to the Authoritarian Interference Tracker, there are more than 300 instances of external interference from China and Russia in Europe.

Table 1: Interference Incidents by Russia and China

Type	Russia	China
Information Manipulation	97	23
Civil Society Subversion	50	48
Economic Coercion	35	32
Cyber Operations	38	11
Malign Finance	32	5
Total	252	119

Part of a hybrid warfare strategy aimed at destabilizing European democracy, these actors have deceived our citizens, amplified divisive debates, attempted to distort the integrity of democratic elections and referendums, sow distrust in public authorities and the liberal democratic order.

These attacks, which constitute a serious threat to EU security and sovereignty, are mainly (but not exclusively), the result of concerted actions of three main threat actors:

Russia: predominantly utilizing “hard power” tactics, the Kremlin uses disinformation, active measures, assassination and intimidation, as well as funding anti-EU parties, with the goal of disrupting democratic cycles and creating a climate of confusion and fear
China: economic coercion, encouraging self-censorship, acquisition of media outlets and digital platforms, using student associations to intimidate academics, establishing illegal police stations on European soil, and spreading disinformation to encourage a state of deference to China and deter the EU from asserting its place as a world leader
Middle East: focused on corruption and grassroots activism, foreign actors fund and organize Salafist movements with the goal of radicalizing European islamic communities through discrediting and replacing moderate community leaders with new radical leaders

In addition, threat actors are frequently assisted by corrupt politicians in the Member States, who derive political and economic advantages from favoring foreign strategies. This strategy of using domestic proxies and recruiting domestic allies blurs the line between foreign and domestic interference.

With the recent advent of informational warfare as a key determinant of geopolitical success, foreign interference efforts are expected to accelerate, and new threat actors to emerge.

To address this challenge and free our democracy from foreign influence, a comprehensive strategy is needed focusing both on defensive and offensive responses to interference.

In particular, the following directions should be considered for policy formation:

Transform INGE into a Federal Agency focused on countering propaganda efforts

Engage in both defensive and offensive counter-propaganda against threat actors

Retaliate with an appropriate range of measures and economic sanctions

Strengthen legal framework to investigate and prosecute crimes of interference

Actively support liberal citizens of threat-actor states in promoting European values and universal human rights

Ban state-sponsored instruments of propaganda (e.g. Confucius Institutes) from operating on European soil

Require religious institutions to declare all sources of funding, and ban those with ties to state-sponsored fundamentalism

Foreign interference is one of the most insidious threats facing Europe in recent times. It is an attack on our democracy and our Union. This is an area where 27 small, uncoordinated efforts cannot stand alone.

We are bound together by trust in our laws, constitutions, and democratic processes, and we must work together to secure the safety and credibility of our democracy.