A Strong European Democracy is a Strong European Union

by Amanda Cecilie Haar-Jørgensen

The international context and the European Union’s internal circumstances have changed much since the last EU election in 2019. The Covid pandemic tested the preparedness, crisis response, resilience, and unity of the EU. War returned to the European continent, as Russian provocations turned into a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The relations between the EU and Russia tensed, especially as the EU showed its unwavering support for Ukraine. The following winter was cold in a whole new way, as the EU came together and weathered the resulting energy crisis, as the EU stopped importing Russian gas.

In addition, non-democratic powers have gained prominence internationally, especially with China’s growing influence presenting an alternative to democracy. Foreign disinformation and propaganda campaigns against the EU seem a reality more than ever and they are expected to increase as election day draws near. The EU makes clear in its 2022 common defence strategy, the Strategic Compass, that the international context and the EU’s security landscape have drastically changed.

On top of the tense international situation, economic concerns, such as rising costs of living and unemployment worry many European voters. Surveys from the Eurobarometer (spring 2024) indicate that most European voters are increasingly regarding the upcoming elections as significant in light of the current geopolitical context, and along with topics such as health, poverty, and boosting the economy, security and defence are found among their central concerns.

This is the backdrop against which the upcoming election to the European Union Parliament is to take place. With an increased public interest in voting, public awareness of international tensions, and the altered threat landscape, the importance and signal value of the upcoming elections should not be understated. A strong, resilient, and fair democratic election free from foreign meddling will send a clear message: a strong European democracy is a strong European Union. And the message is two-fold: The election represents an opportunity for the EU to reassure its member states of the resilience and integrity of European democracy in troubled times, as well as to project strength internationally to deter challengers and aggressors.

Concern for the vulnerability of EU elections

From the 6th to the 9th of June, all of the EU comes together to elect its new representatives to the European Parliament. Elections are held in each of the member states with many thousand candidates on the voting ballots. The election of officials to the European Parliament is at the heart of European democracy: it is the only institution of the EU whose composition is completely and directly decided by a voting European public. But more than that, the EU Parliament is at the very centre of the EU, its influence on EU legislation is expanding and it is involved in the financial support for Ukraine, for example by voting through and approving the EU budgets which allocate the monetary aid sent to Ukraine.

Path signs from Belgium. Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas

After the 2019 parliamentary elections, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) expressed concern about the attempts of foreign actors to influence EU affairs and noted an increase in Russian disinformation targeted at the EU. Subsequent parliamentary committees made recommendations for measures to safeguard the 2024 elections, as increased attempts to manipulate information and intervene in the elections were anticipated.

But the concerns extend beyond the MEPs. On Friday the 12th of April, the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, clearly highlighted the threat to the integrity of European democracy. He announced that the Belgian intelligence service had evidence of attempts by a pro-Russian organisation to influence and extend funding to candidates in the upcoming European Parliament election with the aim of ensuring that MEPs with perspectives more sympathetic towards Russia were elected and to weaken the EU’s support for Ukraine. Consequently, Belgium is launching a full investigation of these accusations. Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and the announcement of the investigations has made headlines.

The Belgian Prime Minister is not alone in his concerns. Earlier this year, in February, the foreign ministers of Poland, Germany and France came together to announce the existence of large pro-Russian networks with a mission to spread disinformation and pro-Russian propaganda to undermine both the national leadership of the three EU states and to interfere with the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. The three EU leaders made it clear that they would cooperate to counter cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns through their joint mechanisms for detection and counteraction. On the same occasion, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné highlighted the vulnerability of the elections to the European Parliament to foreign meddling and disinformation campaigns.

In March this year, the Czech Republic sanctioned Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk and his company Voice of Europe, as it had found that Medvedchuk had used the company to spread disinformation aimed at undermining the support for and the sovereignty of Ukraine. Medvedchuk was previously a pro-Russian politician in Ukraine, but in January 2023, President Zelenskiy stripped him of his Ukrainian citizenship after having been exiled from Ukraine in 2022.

Voice of Europe is accused of spreading pro-Russian propaganda and disinformation, of cooperating with journalists in several EU member states, and of giving financial contributions to politicians in the EU and candidates for European Parliament election, all with the intent of weakening European support for Ukraine and promoting the interests of the Russian state. The sanctions aim to protect the Czech Republic and the “democratic processes'' of the upcoming European Parliament election, according to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It is clear that the freedom and integrity of European democracy is challenged by foreign actors. In an address to the European Council in March this year, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, remarked on foreign attempts to influence the upcoming election to the European Parliament: “We know how far other actors will go to try to disrupt our democratic processes. We are seeing attempts in many States to push disinformation, misinformation and propaganda which come from actors hostile to the European project. It is a threat that we must be ready for”.

In the address, Roberta Metsola spoke of the tense geopolitical situation surrounding the EU, the pressure from external disinformation campaigns, and the threat posed by Russia, whereafter she proceeded to emphasise how central a powerful defence and autonomy are for the EU in allowing it to remain strong and flourish, Metsola said: “Our project of peace depends on our ability to be secure and autonomous”.

Such a statement seems directed at the military defence capacity of the EU, but other aspects are closely tied to it too. Underlining the EU’s intentions towards enlargement through the inclusion of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina is closely linked. Enlargement strengthens the EU, but it also helps to ensure its safety and independence by growing the economic power and production independence of the single market. Moreover, internal support for the European project is also a crucial aspect of autonomy, as it means coming together to improve the union and support its decision-making processes, rather than turn away or look elsewhere for solutions - or as Metsola says, “So where we need to fix - let us do so. But let us keep building rather than allow easy cynicism to destroy.”

Here, in considering EU security and autonomy, it is hard not to be reminded of the threats during the Trump Administration of the possibility of the United States exiting NATO. Here something that presumably would have seemed a pretty unlikely scenario for most Europeans previously, suddenly became a substantive fear in need of due consideration. The US remained in the EU, and during the current Biden Administration, the US reassured its allies of its commitment to the Alliance. The security and defence cooperation between the EU and NATO was expanded with the EU’s Strategic Compass, but a highly autonomous EU is less affected by such threats, insecurities, or changes in administrations.

The EU is taking on a greater security and defence dimension and the upcoming election to the European Parliament presents an opportunity to demonstrate the resolve behind the policies. As Metsola also stated during the council meeting, the upcoming elections would test the resilience of the EUs democratic systems. Free and fair democratic elections seem synonymous with maintaining the autonomy of the EU. Doubt about the integrity and freedom of the elections to the European Parliament could undermine the Parliament’s integrity and its decision-making power. That would pose an unwanted challenge to the EU.

What is being done to safeguard the EU election?

The responsibility of ensuring the integrity of the elections to the European Parliament befalls the election authorities in each of the EU member states, but the EU has multiple measures in place to provide support and ensure the elections remain free and fair.

• The Digital Service Act is in place to ensure that online platforms combat disinformation and provide a more transparent user experience where for example the use of sensitive data is disallowed, and harmful content is more easily and quickly removed.

• The EU has rules in place that require political advertising to be transparent, especially about who is behind the message, so that political standpoints cannot be passed off as neutral facts. Similarly, a new EU law on the use of Artificial Intelligence requires all AI generated data, for example images or audio, to be clearly designated as such.

• In March the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) published a new updated compendium with case studies and “lessons learned” on cyber security. In addition, ENISA also organises exercises for the national authorities in member states on how to prevent, handle, and move on from potential cyberattacks targeting the election process.

• According to Politico, the EU is hiring new “cybersecurity experts” and significantly increasing its budget for cybersecurity to strengthen its cyber defence.

• The EU is working purposefully to facilitate increased cooperation and information exchange between the election authorities in member states and its fact checkers and experts in disinformation.

• The EEAS (European External Action Service) has a special task force solely dedicated to detecting pro-Russian disinformation campaigns and propaganda and countering it, for example through the EEAS site EUvsDISINFO.eu.

There are also extensive EU efforts to spread citizen awareness and inform the European public of the dangers of disinformation, how to recognize it, and what the public can do to help combat disinformation. A European public critical of and prepared for disinformation campaigns is a strong safeguard of a free European democracy, one more resilient to foreign attempts to influence public opinion and meddle in elections.

This aim is also supported by the EU’s expanding cooperation with NATO, which on top of much else, means that the two organisations will support each other in countering disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks. The increased cooperation also means that NATO and the EU will be working together to ensure the resilience of the national governments of their common members.

A Resilient Democracy and a Strong EU

The year 2024 is a big one for democracy with elections in the EU and national elections in the USA, the United Kingdom, India, Iceland, and Georgia, just to name a few. With geopolitical tension and the pressure from autocratic powers internationally, a free and fair EU election with so many democracies coming together sends a powerful message of resilience. The security political dimension of the upcoming EU election should not be underestimated.

The European Parliament election provides the EU with an excellent opportunity to reassure the European public and their leaders about the resilience of European democracy and the capacity of the EU to ensure their way of life. But beyond that, a free and democratic election, also projects a powerful image internationally of a strong and resilient EU, impenetrable to malign foreign influence and capable of credible defence: that would send a clear message of resilience, unity, democracy, and strength to reassure internally and deter internationally.

The logic seems clear: Strong systems, means strong democratic institutions, which means a strong democracy and a strong EU.