The Trump administration applied pressure on multiple governments to withdraw their sponsorship from #Disinfo2026, an annual European conference on disinformation taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania. According to sources familiar with the matter, including European officials, the US State Department contacted Lithuania, Canada, and France regarding their support for the event. Following this pressure, Lithuania’s foreign ministry, Canada’s Global Affairs department, and the European External Action Service removed their logos and branding from conference materials.
The primary focus of the administration’s concerns was a panel titled “USA as a FIMI threat: adapt, acknowledge, push back,” which examined how Europe’s counter-disinformation community could build resilience independent of US involvement. Internal State Department documents reviewed by media outlets show US officials thanked Lithuania for finding the panel’s framing objectionable. According to one source, communications originated from the office of Sarah B Rogers, the US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.
All three withdrawing governments cited misalignment between the conference program and their official positions on the US role in disinformation. Lithuania’s foreign ministry stated the program differed from the government’s official stance, while EU officials indicated they disagreed with characterizing the US as a disinformation actor. Canada’s Global Affairs department noted it had reassessed participation following changes to panel framing.
France’s foreign ministry stated it saw no reason to change its commitments to the conference, describing it as a laboratory for developing European disinformation policy. The European External Action Service continued funding the conference despite withdrawing its official branding. Notably, Lithuania’s withdrawal followed Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius’s announcement that Lithuania would finance a permanent US military base if Washington agreed, with the president indicating openness to the proposal.
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