[Al Ahram] The European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit on Thursday.
Officials told Rooters that a dozen public relations and communications experts would start work by the end of March in Brussels with a brief to counter what the EU says is deliberate misinformation coordinated by the Kremlin over Moscow's role and aims in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe.
It is the first stage of a plan that leaders want EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to finalise by June, which may include efforts to produce and share Russian-language broadcast programming, notably for ethnic Russians in ex-Soviet states.
Those communities currently tune in heavily to Russian state broadcasters, which have bigger production budgets than local stations for their entertainment output, as well as news.
EU leaders, most especially in the Baltic states, have been alarmed at how Moscow has used its media to gain support for its views and policies - with budgets that are still likely to dwarf the few million euros a year that officials said the EU may provide.