Version 1: Fri, Jun 26, 2026
Source: Atlantic Council
EU Propaganda
Thomas Fazi is an Italian author and journalist who has been critical of EU policies for some time. Earlier this month he wrote the following for Unherd:
Von der Leyen is coming for Europe’s wallet Beware the Commission’s power grab https://unherd.com/2026/06/von-der-leyen-is-coming-for-europes-wallet/ by Thomas Fazi - Unherd - Jun 10, 2026 - Archive https://archive.is/NIAfm
In this article Fazi takes a close at money allocation by EU, and here is the relevant segment, with added emphasis:
Then there is the question of where the EU budget money actually flows. The new AgoraEU program — a merger of the Creative Europe and CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) programs — is allocated €8.6 billion: more than double the combined budgets of its predecessors. The CERV strand alone, now rebranded CERV+, sees its budget grow from €1.55 billion to €3.6 billion, even as it remains under direct Commission management. This is the funding stream from which hundreds of NGOs, operating in the fields of “democratic values”, civil society advocacy and media support, draw their operating grants. It goes without saying that these organizations are, by design, institutionally dependent on Brussels and reliably aligned with its agenda. In a recent book, I show how European programs and funds have been progressively oriented towards the diffusion of so-called “European values” — and very often towards the promotion of the EU and the integrationist project as such — through the direct funding of NGOs, think tanks, academic institutions, media outlets and educational projects, to the tune of hundreds of millions each year, with the effect of blurring the boundary between support for civil society, institutional communication and outright political propaganda. And now this EU-funded propaganda complex is poised to grow even more powerful.
The book he mentions is the following:
The EU propaganda machine: New book of mine out about the EU-NGO-media-academia propaganda complex https://www.thomasfazi.com/p/the-eu-propaganda-machine by Thomas Fazi - Apr 17, 2026 - Archive https://archive.ph/Ql5i7
NATO Propaganda
Coming soon to a theater or TV near you!
Nato meetings with TV and film-makers prompt claims it is seeking ‘propaganda’ - Exclusive: Two ‘intimate conversations’ held with writers, directors and producers, with a third due in June https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/03/nato-meets-tv-and-film-makers-causing-concerns-it-seeks-propaganda by Sammy Gecsoyler - Guardian - May 3, 2026 - Archive https://archive.is/2PaQ9
Nato is holding closed-door meetings with film and TV screenwriters, directors and producers across Europe and the US, the Guardian can reveal, prompting accusations the alliance is seeking to use the arts to generate “propaganda” for the bloc.
The alliance has held three meetings with film and TV professionals in Los Angeles, Brussels and Paris and is due to continue its “series of intimate conservations” next month in London, meeting with screenwriter members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), which represents professional writers in the UK.
The planned meeting in London has caused consternation among some of those invited, who felt they were being asked to “contribute towards propaganda for Nato”.
The topic of conversation at the meeting, to be held under the Chatham House rule – in which participants are free to use information received, but identities of attenders are not revealed – will be the “evolving security situation in Europe and beyond”. Former Nato spokesperson James Appathurai, who is now deputy assistant secretary general for hybrid, cyber and new technology, is understood to be planning to attend, along with other officials from the alliance.
Two reports mentioned in the article by CER and by CSIS:
How To Build Public Support For Defence Spending In Europe https://www.cer.eu/publications/archive/policy-brief/2026/how-build-public-support-defence-spending by Armida van Rij - Centre for European Reform - Policy brief 10 March 2026 PDF 9 pages
The Centre for European Reform https://www.cer.eu/ is a UK based think tank. Corporate Members include: BAE Systems, KPMG LLP, Barclays, Leonardo UK Ltd, The Economist, Goldman Sachs International and HSBC Holdings plc.
Hollywood Goes to NATO: Telling the Story of the Alliance https://www.csis.org/analysis/hollywood-goes-nato-telling-story-alliance This transcript is from a CSIS event hosted on July 12, 2024 - Center for Strategic & International Studies - Archive https://archive.is/qwnbl
The Center for Strategic and International Studies https://www.csis.org/ is a Washington based think tank. Henry A. Kissinger was associated with CSIS for almost 50 years: https://www.csis.org/analysis/memoriam-henry-kissinger. FY 2024 Operating Revenue: $63,563,695 https://www.csis.org/about/financial-information
Interesting article by a CSIS researcher:
Strategists Have Forgotten the Power of Stories: The arts are invaluable to national security policymakers facing an ever-changing future https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/19/national-security-policymaking-mythos-logos-strategy/ By Kathleen J. McInnis - Foreign Policy - May 19, 2020 - Archive https://archive.is/p3uiM
In addition I recommend the following:
Covert NATO initiative turns film into anti-Russia battleground https://thegrayzone.com/2026/05/09/covert-nato-film-russia/ by Kit Klarenberg - The Grayzone - May 9, 2026 - Archive https://archive.is/JT37e
Klarenberg references the Guardian article above but then he reminds us that NATO propaganda goes back a few years:
But collusion between NATO and the entertainment industry has a well-established history. Over recent decades, NATO has covertly sought to employ film and television creatives as psychological operations specialists, while influencing popular culture. A core driver of this push has been Chris Donnelly, a veteran British Ministry of Defence and military intelligence operative, who led alliance expansion into Central and Eastern Europe during the 1990s.
Donnelly later developed the Integrity Initiative to cultivate support for conflict with Russia through covert networks of influential pro-war pundits and operatives. Hidden behind a seemingly legitimate think tank called the Institute for Statecraft, the Integrity Initiative only became known to the public after independent outlets like The Grayzone reported on leaked emails from Donnelly revealing its existence.
Small digression for possible Greek readers: Documento has covered the Integrity Initiative. The following search shows most of the articles:
site:documentonews.gr Integrity
US Propaganda
US directs embassies to team up against foreign ‘hostility’ – and use X to ‘counter anti-American propaganda’: Cable signed by Marco Rubio and seen by Guardian suggests staff work with Pentagon psychological operations unit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/30/embassies-campaign-marco-rubio-elon-musk by Joseph Gedeon - The Guardian - Mar 30, 2026 - Archive https://archive.is/hXdKb
The cable, signed by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Monday and obtained by the Guardian, also suggests embassies and consulates work alongside the US military’s psychological operations unit to address the problem of rampant disinformation. It lays out a sweeping set of instructions for how embassy staff should push back against what it describes as coordinated foreign efforts to undermine American interests abroad.
and it continues:
The cable instructs those embassies and consulates to pursue five broad goals: countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local voices who support American interests, and promoting what it calls “telling America’s story”. Embassies are told to recruit local influencers, academics and community leaders abroad to carry counter-propaganda messaging, an approach designed to make American-funded narratives feel locally organic rather than centrally directed.
Great follow up:
X is a Preferred Tool for American Propaganda. What Does It Mean? https://www.techpolicy.press/x-is-a-preferred-tool-for-american-propaganda-what-does-it-mean/
Justin Hendrix with Kate Klonick, transcript:
Last week, The Guardian reported that United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has directed American embassies and consulates to counter foreign propaganda. Notably, the cable apparently endorses Elon Musk’s X as an “innovative” tool to help do it, even as it instructs diplomats to coordinate with the US military’s psychological operations unit to counter what the administration deems as disinformation.
Today’s guest is Kate Klonick, a law professor at St. John’s University and a senior editor at Lawfare. In a piece on Lawfare last week, Klonick says that the State Department issuing a formal cable endorsing a specific social media platform for use in its messaging—and doing so in the same document that it encourages collaboration with military psychological operations—would have been nearly unthinkable until recent months. But it’s just the latest in a series of developments that suggest Elon Musk’s X is regarded as the preferred tool of the state. Let’s jump right in.
Started: Fri, Jun 26, 2026
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