Although the threat of war is one common trope spread by Russian-linked disinformation in both countries, it is not the only one, pundits say.Fadel Senna/Getty Images

Unquiet on the Eastern front: Why Brussels is losing to Moscow – POLITICO

by · POLITICO

BRUSSELS — In June 2022, four months after Russia launched a blitzkrieg of tanks and bombs on Ukraine, the European Union countered with the most powerful weapon in its arsenal.

As artillery rained down on Ukrainian cities and towns and refugees poured into the EU, Brussels reached into its holster and pulled out — a carrot.

EU officials announced that Ukraine and Moldova were to be allowed to begin negotiations to become part of the bloc. In December of the following year, a third former Soviet republic, Georgia, was granted the same “candidate status.”