FIMI

In the run-up to the Dutch municipal elections, Russian disinformation also reached the Dutch-speaking region via a new route. Earlier in this report, we mapped out how a fake news story was launched surrounding the German state elections.

Persistent political instability makes Bulgaria an attractive target for Russian disinformation. We are following the elections closely.

On 27 February 2026, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service PET, the Defence Intelligence Service FE and SAMSIK published a joint threat assessment ahead of the Danish elections of 24 March. The services established that it is "highly likely" that Denmark is a priority target for Russian influence operations.

France is, alongside Ukraine, one of the best-documented targets of foreign information manipulation in Europe. The European External Action Service EEAS counted 152 documented campaigns targeting France. For the first time in history, the French government publishes weekly bulletins on ongoing influence attempts.

Hungary is an exception. It seemed that Russia was influencing here not only from the outside, but also from within. The goal? To keep Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in power.

During the Moldovan parliamentary elections, the democratic process was undermined at every level. Social media, news websites, the electoral commission and even the polling stations came under fire. What Russia experimented with here, the Kremlin subsequently applied during the elections in Germany, France and Hungary.

The official Portuguese disinformation watchdog LabCom/ODEPOL documented 14 disinformation cases with a total of 7.7 million views. In 85.7% of those cases , the content originated from André Ventura, with anti-migration narratives and attacks on the media being the most prevalent.

On December 12, 2025, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) issued a joint statement: Russia had attempted to influence the “Bundestag election in 2025” via the Storm-1516 campaign.