Cosying Up to Autocrats Is Killing Democracy

Europe is sleepwalking through a war on democracy, cosying up to autocrats while Kremlin propaganda poisons elections and Brussels mutters empty promises.

Europe’s Dangerous Slumber: On the Manufacture of Falsehoods, the Cosying to Autocrats, and the Cost of Complacency.

A digital forgery, branded with the digital red ink of “FAUX,” has made its rounds across Telegram and Twitter. The image purports to be a statement from Telegram founder Pavel Durov, accusing a “Western European government” thinly veiled as France, of seeking to silence conservative voices in Romania’s recent elections. The claim is both dangerous and absurd, for it not only maligns a democratic partner, but also serves as an open conduit for Russian-style disinformation campaigns that are actively corroding the European project from within.

France, rightly, has responded¹ with clarity and vigour. In an official statement disseminated across its diplomatic channels, it denounces the claim as “completely unfounded,” drawing attention instead to the real malign actor in the room: Russia. The French Foreign Ministry points to confirmed reports of digital and financial interf…