European Security

Check out the real reason why Russia was not invited to the Auschwitz commemoration. And no, the West has not turned ‘Nazi’. Not so long ago, on 27 January 2025, the world commemorated 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army in 1945. There was no Russian delegation present at the event. Why? Because since Russia’s unprovoked and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum has refused to invite the aggressor to the annual commemoration, denouncing Russia’s war against Ukraine as a ‘barbaric act. The Kremlin and its mouthpieces have, as usual, made up an explanation for Russia’s absence from the Auschwitz commemoration: Western Russophobia and historical revisionism, and the revival of Nazism in the EU and Ukraine. In fact, Moscow has been using the ‘Nazi brush’ throughout the war to smear anyone standing up to Russian imperialism. Lately, Russia has used the same tactic to belittle and ridicule the European Union in the context of negotiating peace in Ukraine. […]

In the murky landscape of disinformation, few narratives have proven as stubbornly persistent as the claim that NATO expansion provoked Russia into invading Ukraine. This myth, recycled and rebranded by Kremlin apologists, shifts blame for Russia’s aggression onto the West – ignoring history and facts. It’s time to call this narrative what it is: a convenient distortion designed to justify an unjustifiable war. To truly understand this war, look not at NATO’s decisions, but at Vladimir Putin’s own words. In his infamous July 2021 essay and February 2022 speech, Putin dismissed Ukrainian sovereignty and framed the country as a historical part of Russia. His motivations aren’t defensive – they’re imperial. The invasion was about reasserting control over a former Soviet republic, crushing a thriving democracy on Russia’s border, and signalling to other post-Soviet states that turning westward comes with consequences. Putin doesn’t fear NATO. He fears democracy. That’s the real threat to the Kremlin’s power. […]

Moldova has been used as a testing and development ground for Russian FIMI operations for a long time. We take a look at some of the more distinct features of these experiments from last year’s campaign. Last year’s combination of a presidential election and an EU referendum offered Russia an opportunity it could not afford to ignore, as we examined here and here. Russia certainly did not restrain itself when it came to funding or other resources. In the 3rd EEAS Report on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) Threats, we took a closer look at the role of FIMI as part of a much wider influence campaign targeting Moldova in 2024. Leading up to the election, Russia increased the intensity of its FIMI operations against Moldova. Combining existing infrastructure with newly developed assets, Russia tried to undermine the EU enlargement process and weaken support for President Maia Sandu. EUvsDiSiNFO highlight four main ingredients from the Russian FIMI cocktail. This time the Kremlin decided to be much more transparent, combining both covert and overt channels. […]