U.S. Says 'Closely Engaged' With EU To Detect Russian Interference In Elections

The United States said on Thursday that it's working closely with the EU to identify and combat potential Russian interference in the upcoming election process, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

With just a few weeks to go until European Parliament elections, fresh revelations of suspected espionage at the legislature raise eyebrows, while several European governments and intelligence services have publicly denounced disinformation operations targeting them.

Only last month, the Czech government imposed sanctions on a number of people after a pro-Russian influence operation was uncovered there. They are alleged to have approached members of the European Parliament and offered them money to promote Russian propaganda.

When asked by TURAN whether the U.S. was concerned about potential Russian attempts to disrupt European elections, State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said the following: "This is something that we have engaged directly on with our partners in the EU, about being clear-eyed about when it comes to any kind of potential election interference from adversarial actors like the Russian Federation."

With a record-breaking number of elections taking place around the world this year, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center has been helping U.S. allies to prevent Russian and Chinese disinformation from influencing voters. But the agency itself is currently in the midst of a quiet battle for survival, as its funding didn't make it to the latest supplemental funding bill, which passed the Congress this week and was signed by President Biden.

However, as Patel told Thursday's daily briefing, the Center "continues to do important work, especially in the face of combatting disinformation and misinformation in other parts of the world."