EU efforts to counter Kremlin and Putin's propaganda. Elmar Brok interviewed by EuroparlTV.

"Propaganda warfare can have as big an impact as regular warfare so the EU needs to strike back by setting the record straight - in an entertaining way," says Elmar Brok to EuroparlTV.

Repressing dissent and using Media to promulgate anti-Western sentiment, Russia, other countries and Media savvy actors have mastered the art of propaganda. Can Europe strike back? And how can they counter? Elmar Brok, Chair of EP's Foreign Affairs Committee sat down with EuroparlTV. See below the content of the interview and my additional notes.

Interview:

Mr Brok, thank you for joining us. A poll says 75% of Russians believe that there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine. It gives Putin an 85% approval rating, and it also says that 20% of Russians would like to wear a T-shirt with Putin's face on it.

What do you make of this? Is Putin the best modern-day propaganda merchant there is?

Look, he was able to destroy nearly all independent Media. He has the monopoly of the Media so he can tell his people what he likes. And we are not able to do the same. There is a difference between a democracy where we have a freedom of Media, with different opinions. Therefore an autocratic leader is always more able to manipulate his own people.

How does Russian propaganda work? And how is the EU's anti-Russian propaganda not working?

That's the difference that I tried to explain between an autocratic society which can produce one opinion and the European Union, where in every country we have ten opinions. In a free society it's very difficult to come up with one opinion, one information policy.

But this taskforce has been set up. It's a very small taskforce. Russia has troll farms made up of hundreds of people. Is the EU expected to - or does the EU want to have troll farms of its own?

We have to counter-act them. Both within the European Union and in Russia and in the neighbouring countries of Russia. Here there are many modern possibilities available. We have only to use a little bit more money, do it jointly as nations of the EU.

A few facts and figures on Russia Today. It broadcasts in different languages. They claim to be the first broadcast channel to reach a billion views or hits on YouTube. So what would you like to see Europe do? Would you like to see a 'Europe Today'?

A 'Europe Today' and perhaps better cooperation between the BBC, Deutsche Welle and the French channels. And I think we have to put much more money into that. I saw it the other day in Iraq where it was done in Arabic. There was no BBC and no Deutsche Welle, but there was Russia Today at the hotel. Then you see how well it's spread everywhere. And we are not much competition for that.

Would the strategy involve breaking down the myth or the god-like status that Putin seems to have acquired?

It's not a question of Putin as such, it's not a question of anti-Russian movement but of getting the facts right.

So who do you think is pulling the strings? Would you say it's the Kremlin or would you put a name on it and call it Putin?

All these policies come from the Kremlin and Putin.

Moving away from Russia, there's Ukraine, there's Georgia, and then of course the so-called Islamic State who have been able to use propaganda to their advantage.

First of all, we have no EU Media policy. We cannot have a unified EU Media policy because it's against our principles, our free society, but we must be able to create something which takes that into account but gives clear information of our policy, gives clear information about what happens in the world, and does it in an entertaining way.

It's very difficult, it's very expensive, but our leaders in Brussels and in the national capitals have to understand that these days propaganda warfare is at least as effective as normal warfare in influencing the world.

Lovely. Thank you so much, Mr Brok.

My notes:

A small group of officials (EU Task Force) in the European External Action Service (EEAS) engage in efforts to respond to massive Russian propaganda directed both at home and international audiences. The European Council stressed the need to challenge Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns and invited the EU High Representative, Federica Mogherini, in cooperation with Member States and EU institutions, to prepare an action plan on strategic communication. The establishment of a communication team was a first step in this regard.

The EU efforts are very much smaller than the Russian propaganda machine because the EU doesn’t want to engage in a communications Cold-War type confrontation with Russia. Initial plans to counter Russian propaganda included setting up of a “European Russian TV channel”, but EU institutions distanced themselves from the initiatives, leaving them to Member States that are willing to implement them.

The EU Action Plan on Strategic Communication has three main objectives:

• Effective communication and promotion of EU policies towards the Eastern Neighbourhood
• Strengthening the overall Media environment in the Eastern Neighbourhood and in EU Member States, including support for Media freedom and strengthening independent Media
• Improved EU capacity to forecast, address and respond to disinformation activities by external actors

The EU Task Force don't engage in counter-propaganda, its main task is to proactively promote the European Union's policy towards the Eastern Neighbourhood. When appropriate, it also identifies and it seeks to correct disinformation. Its mandate underlines the importance of ensuring high-quality EU communication in the Russian language. Russian is spoken and understood by millions of people all over the world, including EU Member States. The EEAS Russian-language website is complementary to the existing website of the EU Delegation in Moscow.

The EEAS Disinformation Review collects examples of pro-Kremlin disinformation all around Europe and beyond. Every week, it exposes the breadth of this campaign, showing the countries and languages targeted. The Disinformation Digest analyses how pro-Kremlin Media see the world and what independent Russian voices say. It follows key trends on Russian Social Media, so you can put pro-Kremlin narratives into their wider context.