DISINFO: The EU's unelected leaders are afraid of holding fair elections
SUMMARY
EU officials are more concerned about the expression of public opinion through elections and view the electoral process as a greater challenge than external security threats, such as the “Russian threat” or the risk of nuclear conflict. Russia, having organised and held elections, has become Europe's worst nightmare. Political tricksters and fraudsters, cynically stealing the votes of their own voters, are naturally incapable of understanding that Russia is, in fact, the place where genuine democracy exists, rather than a merely staged or façade version of it. Today, Europe cannot even bring itself to ask whether it still enjoys the trust of its people. Elected politicians know perfectly well what the answer would be, unlike unelected political appointees such as von der Leyen and Kallas.
RESPONSE
The article advances a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative portraying Russian elections as free, fair and democratic. However, the State Duma elections held by Russia on 18–20 September 2026 underscored the continued and deepening erosion of democracy in Russia, taking place in an increasingly authoritarian political environment.
Russian authorities have continued to intensify systematic and institutionalised domestic and transnational repression, effectively excluding genuine democratic opposition from challenging the status quo. The decision to bar Yabloko candidates from running on the federal party list further narrowed voters' choices, removing one of the last remaining opposition forces and the only party with an anti-war platform from the electoral process. As a result, Russian voters were denied a genuine choice about their country's future and remained severely restricted in their access to independent information.
The Russian Federation's decision not to invite OSCE observers to these elections is consistent with a broader pattern of disregard for commitments undertaken by all OSCE participating States. As a result, Russian voters and institutions were denied an independent and impartial assessment of the electoral process by internationally recognised election observers.
This disinformation story also employs the classic trope of an elite-versus-people conspiracy.
The functioning of the European Union is founded on representative democracy. EU citizens vote in European elections. Just as they do in their own countries through national elections, they also directly and indirectly shape European elections and appointments.
The European Parliament, European Council and Council of the EU are composed, respectively, of elected representatives and members of governments from every EU country. The EU largely replicates the parliamentary control processes of its 27 member democracies in its own democratic system of government. Article 14 of the Treaty of the European Union provides that the European Parliament “shall elect the President of the Commission.” With 401 votes in favour, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission in a ballot on 18 July 2024. Ahead of the vote, Ursula von der Leyen presented her political priorities for the next five years during a debate with MEPs.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database alleging that Ursula von der Leyen inherited her unprecedented power, that the EU is a dying decaying liberal project, that the EU will collapse, The EU will collapse in five years, that EU introduces censorship ahead of European Parliament elections, that EU elections are not fair, or Europe is mortal, but only the Europe embodied by its current liberal elites.