Saint George and The New Dragon: the fight of the European Union against disinformation sponsored by foreign states

Abstract

In recent years, disinformation orchestrated by foreign states, particularly Russia, has become a major threat to the fundamental rights of EU citizens, as well as to the vital interests of Member States and the Union itself. In this paper, we have studied the EU’s fight against disinformation campaigns orchestrated by third countries. We have seen how it has moved from weak policies and measures to the adoption of robust and rigorous policies and measures, including a system of sanctions against individuals, companies and the media. We also ask ourselves whether the EU could resort to self-defence in the face of disinformation campaigns that amount to armed attacks, and what form such a response might take. We conclude that, although this would be possible in theory, in practice it would be difficult to find cases in which the EU itself suffers disinformation campaigns equivalent to armed attacks without affecting Member States, and it would therefore be difficult to imagine a possible response from the EU.

Received: 20 January 2026
Accepted: 9 February 2026