The European Union provided its reason for withdrawing support from the Disinfo2026 event in Lithuania on Thursday. This action followed media reports of pressure from the United States government.
Withdrawal of support by several entities
The European Union's Foreign Affairs Office and the European External Action Service (EEAS), along with the governments of Canada and Lithuania, suddenly withdrew their support for this event. The logos of the event's sponsors were quickly covered with paper strips on brochures and signs.
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According to multiple reports, this decision has been attributed to pressure from the U.S. State Department. However, EU spokesperson Christian Wigand did not mention the United States or external pressures on Thursday, but did not deny the reports.
Incompatibility with official EU positions
Wigand told reporters in Brussels, "We were uncomfortable with the framing of certain discussions at this event." He continued, "The organizers of this event framed certain discussions in a way that is inconsistent with the official positions of the European Union."
Wigand also refrained from providing details about which discussions or framings raised concerns for the EEAS. He emphasized that he would not discuss diplomatic exchanges.
While several scheduled sessions on the event's website appeared to potentially affect more sensitive members of the Donald Trump administration during the two-day event at the Radisson Blu Lietuva Hotel in Vilnius, the first two sessions on Wednesday morning clearly attracted more attention.
The conference opened with an interview with Kimberley Prost, a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC). This court faced severe attacks during Trump's second presidency. Following this interview, a one-hour session titled "The United States as a FIMI Threat: Affirmation, Compatibility, Counteraction" followed. One of the scheduled speakers was a former CIA officer.
Strong protections for freedom of speech in the U.S. Constitution have allowed the country to maintain a relatively non-interventionist approach to combating misinformation. However, this approach has faced significant criticism during Donald Trump's presidency, as these criticisms are attributed to his not-so-comfortable relationship with the truth.
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