Russia has not managed to reduce Europe's support for Ukraine through disinformation, even while backing left- and right-wing parties in European countries, Carnegie Europe director Rosa Balfour said in an interview with LETA. TVNET published the interview on 19 October 2026.
Balfour said disinformation is the cheapest and simplest way for Russia to harm European states. From the Kremlin's point of view it is an easy way to destabilise societies, and she expects this kind of information war to continue. She said the aim is often not to win support for Russian policy, but to discredit European institutions or things associated with Europe.
She described a method long used by the Soviet Union: some messages work and others do not, so many are simply tried because the cost is low. Stronger resistance, she said, depends heavily on European media, institutions, education systems and politicians, as well as counterintelligence and security work such as cybersecurity.
Asked about Russian-sponsored far-right parties that consistently oppose aid to Ukraine, Balfour said not every far-right party is pro-Russian, and that these parties have not succeeded in cutting support for Ukraine. Over more than four years of war, she said, European countries have shifted their stance on Russia in a striking way, with a broader understanding of the threat Russia poses to Europe as a whole. Far-right forces hold marches and are becoming more popular, which she called a problem, but she said the challenge they pose should not be exaggerated.
She called war fatigue a genuinely large problem, tied less to pro-Russian sentiment than to budgets. The question, she said, is whether spending on security and defence means cuts in social policy, health care or education. Governing parties and governments that have pledged to support Ukraine must stop the spread of the claim that backing Ukraine comes at the expense of other areas, because that is where far-right forces will find more room.
Balfour agreed that forces described as Trumpist have also been able to reduce support for Ukraine, and that their growing influence has been decisive in changing the EU's common migration policy. She said the EU has delegated migration management to third countries, leaving itself exposed to their demands and changing how it treats neighbouring states. That reflects both the greater influence of the far right and the way mainstream parties chose to respond.
She added that right-wing parties in power or supporting coalitions have demanded cuts to development-aid budgets or their redirection toward migration management, and that this has already happened. Through mainstream parties and the main political direction, far-right forces have in some cases already shaped national policy.
Their influence also shows in how European countries deal with the United States. Balfour described a convergence of views in Europe that includes pro-American far-right parties, which have aligned with parties and countries that favour transatlantic ties in an effort to calm US President Donald Trump, especially in the first year of this US administration. She said that has affected Europe's response to trade threats.
Some far-right parties are pro-American but do not always support Trump, who is not particularly popular in Europe. She said these parties have to ask themselves questions when Trump pursues policy aimed against Europe. Looking at where he is popular, she said he was popular only in Hungary among Fidesz voters, and is not popular in the rest of Europe.