US diplomats pressed several governments to withdraw official support for #Disinfo2026, an annual counter-disinformation conference in Vilnius run by EU Disinfo Lab, and Canada, Lithuania and the European External Action Service subsequently removed their logos from the event website and materials. Internal State Department documents show Washington thanked Lithuania for responding to US concerns about a panel titled “USA as a FIMI threat” (FIMI = foreign information manipulation and interference), which examined the idea that the United States could act as a disinformation actor in Europe; that panel included three American speakers, one a former CIA officer. Sources say some messages came from the office of Undersecretary Sarah B. Rogers. Official statements from Lithuania, Canada and the EEAS framed their withdrawals as responses to program elements that did not align with government positions, even though the session lineup had been in place for months; the EU nonetheless continues to fund the conference and France kept its support.
The episode exposes an increasingly interventionist US approach to debates about free speech and civil society in Europe, critics argue, with diplomatic pressure effectively curbing discussion that labels the US a potential disinformation actor. Detractors point to internal memos and broader US funding patterns in Europe as evidence of influence; the State Department counters that calling the US a FIMI threat undermines shared objectives. Lithuania’s move also occurred amid talks about deeper security ties with Washington, including a proposed permanent US base, highlighting how geopolitical and diplomatic relationships can shape participation in transatlantic policy forums.
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