Remarks by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell on combating disinformation and manipulation in the era of the coronavirus infection have come to our attention. The fact that the escalating “war of vaccines” has lately been waged amid a flurry of rumours and false or deliberately misrepresented information is not news to us. Unfortunately, this has become an inherent part of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we were shocked to see a prominent representative of international politics such as Josep Borrell join the fray.
In his blog on the EEAS website, the head of European diplomacy tries to draw completely uncalled for comparisons between Russia's efforts to combat the disease and the unwarranted terrorist activities of the Islamic State. Spreading “fake information,” Mr Borrell demonises the Russian media and journalists. By calling for fighting media manipulation, he himself appears to be showing clear symptoms of the infodemic infection.
We are unable to take the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy’s rhetoric as anything other than an attempt at unfair competition directed against Russia and domestically developed vaccines. We demand that Brussels provide clarification about this misleading narrative.
