Did the United States become an informational threat to Europe? That question took center stage at the annual NGO conference held by EU DisinfoLab in Vilnius, prompting swift diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration against European governments and Canada, according to investigations published by Politico and The Guardian.
Vilnius Disinformation Conference Sparks Transatlantic Clash
From October 6 to October 8, researchers, journalists, and policy experts gathered in Lithuania’s capital for the annual EU DisinfoLab conference to examine online disinformation trends, foreign influence operations, and investigative methodologies. Tensions flared over a scheduled panel session titled “The United States, a Threat to Europe: Recognizing, Adapting, Countering,” which focused on Washington’s growing role in propagating unverified narratives. The discussion featured two American researchers and a former CIA official. Another session on the agenda scrutinized visa restrictions and pressure tactics applied by the Trump administration against European figures working in counter-disinformation.
The friction reflects a wider breakdown in transatlantic information policies. In April 2025, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the permanent closure of the Global Engagement Center, a State Department entity dedicated to tracking and countering foreign propaganda operations. In the private sector, Meta announced in January 2025 that it was ending its third-party fact-checking program to prioritize free expression.
State Department Cables and MAGA Influence Campaigns Target Organizers
Diplomatic pressure intensified ahead of the event. Leaked excerpts of U.S. diplomatic cables reviewed by Politico show that the State Department instructed American embassies in France, Norway, Romania, and Poland to register Washington’s displeasure with host governments. Diplomats received orders to voice these objections verbally and to gauge whether local officials endorsed the conference program’s characterization of the United States.
Individual attendees also reported direct outreach from figures aligned with Donald Trump. Lou Osborn, co-founder of the Swiss investigative collective Inpact, told the Belgian newspaper Le Soir that several participants received an extensive email from prominent MAGA commentator Michael Shellenberger days before the conference began. “It was quite surreal,” Osborn said, noting that the correspondence questioned researchers on their views regarding the U.S. government.
European Officials Withdraw Sponsorship Amid Strategic Alliances
Following the diplomatic pushback, Canada and Lithuania requested that organizers remove their ministerial logos from conference promotional materials. The European External Action Service, the diplomatic arm of the European Union, also vanished from the official list of supporters. While the participating governments cited policy disagreements with specific elements of the program, they offered no detailed objections. France stood apart by maintaining its backing for the event.
Lithuania’s withdrawal occurred against a sensitive geopolitical backdrop. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius stated that his country is prepared to fund a permanent U.S. military base if Washington agrees to the deployment. Flanked by the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and the Moscow-aligned territory of Belarus, Vilnius views American troop presence as a critical deterrent.
Debating the Definition of Information Manipulation
At the root of Washington’s diplomatic protest is the European terminology surrounding information warfare. European institutions utilize the acronym FIMI—Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference—to describe deliberate attempts to distort the informational ecosystem and undermine trust in democratic institutions through deceptive narratives and coordinated campaigns. Historically, Brussels applied this label almost exclusively to actors like Russia and China.
The U.S. diplomatic cable characterized the application of FIMI to the United States as a “false equivalence.” Washington argued that grouping American policies alongside operations run from Moscow and Beijing obscures the scale and intent of foreign interference carried out by Russia and China.
The fallout generated sharp criticism inside the European Parliament. German Green MEP Alexandra Geese condemned the American diplomatic pressure during an interview with Euronews. “Pressuring European governments to cancel a disinformation conference in order to conceal their own role in spreading this disinformation is not diplomacy,” Geese said. “It is foreign interference, and Europe should call it that.”
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