EU disowns Vilnius event that warned of US political interference, but France maintains support

An annual conference on foreign information manipulation opened in Vilnius this week with a sensitive question on its agenda: Can the United States be considered a threat to Europe’s information space? And the question caused a diplomatic incident. EU DisinfoLab’s annual #Disinfo2026 conference, held in Vilnius on 7 and 8 October, brings together researchers, journalists, civil society groups, technology specialists and policymakers working on “foreign information manipulation and interference”, known as FIMI in EU jargon. The programme was to look at moving beyond analysis of disinformation to practical responses, including disruption, deterrence, and litigation. But shortly before the conference several of its government supporters withdrew their official backing. The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and the European External Action Service (EEAS) all disappeared from the conference’s list of sponsors. The dispute centred on a panel entitled “USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back”. According to the published programme, the session asked how the European counter-disinformation community could build resilience without Washington and what solidarity should look like in a fractured transatlantic relationship. Reuters reported that the US State Department had lobbied Canada and European allies over their support for the conference. Three US officials familiar with the matter and correspondence reviewed said American officials had contacted counterparts in Lithuania, Canada and France. And the US diplomats persuaded the Canadian and Lithuanian foreign ministries to distance themselves.