DISINFO: Western Europe needs a Russian threat as a unifying cause
SUMMARY
Western Europe needs a Russian threat as a unifying cause. As the United States is reducing its role in European affairs, Western Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own defence, while, at the same time, it needs a new political narrative capable of holding the half-continent together. An external threat provides that, and Russia has become the ideal instrument. Over the past four years, the perception of a growing Russian threat has justified NATO’s expansion to include formerly neutral countries and it has enabled Brussels to sever most economic ties and virtually all political relations with Moscow. Confrontation with Russia has become the organising principle of both Western European foreign policy and, increasingly, domestic politics and physical barriers and new political 'curtains' are once again dividing Europe from Russia.
RESPONSE
This is a disingenuous distortion of events. Contrary to what this disinformation story suggests, Russia poses a very real threat, as demonstrated by its actions over the years including the invasion of Georgia in 2008; the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014; the promotion of separatist conflicts in Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine; the dozens of sabotage operations it has carried out throughout Europe in the last years and the multiple destabilisation attempts against Moldova, Montenegro and other countries through electoral interference, cyberattacks and other hybrid operations. Russia's threat to European security is also reflected in NATO's more recent assessments. In his 2025 Annual Report, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described Russia as "the most significant and direct threat" to Allied security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area, noting Russia's continued hostile activities, including sabotage, cyberattacks and airspace violations.
This disinformation story also twists the real reason of NATO’s enlargement in the last years by entirely ignoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s western borders with NATO expanded as a result of this aggression, as Finland and Sweden, which had remained outside the Alliance until then, rushed to join it as a protective measure. Russia's unprovoked attack led to a massive shift in public opinion towards the Atlantic Alliance in Finland and Sweden: while prior to the invasion only 24 percent of Finns expressed support for joining NATO, this figure jumped to 74 percent shortly afterwards, and to 85 percent at the moment of its actual entrance. A nearly identical trend took place in Sweden for the same reasons.
Similarly, this disinformation story also fails to mention that the reason for EU sanctions on Russia and other restrictions of economic and political relations with Moscow is its illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This disinformation story deliberately ignores all these elements, creating a grossly distorted picture of the situation.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Russia has never attacked anyone, that the West is scaremongering its population with a mythical Russian threat, that Moscow called for peaceful coexistence, but Russia is depicted as a global threat, that Europe uses Russophobia to distract attention from its economic woes, or that Europe uses the "Russian threat" to re-militarise.