EU diplomatic service, Lithuania and Canada withdraw support for Vilnius disinformation conference

The European External Action Service, Lithuania and Canada withdrew support for #Disinfo2026 as the disinformation conference began in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Wednesday, 7 October. The governments cited objections to parts of the programme. The Guardian reported that US State Department officials had contacted governments about their backing for the event, but the available reporting does not establish whether those contacts caused each decision.

The change removed prominent institutional backing from a gathering of researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers organised by Brussels-based nonprofit EU DisinfoLab. The conference proceeded on 7 October and was scheduled to continue on 8 October. Canadian officials remained participants, according to their government, and EU funding continued despite the diplomatic service withdrawing its supporter branding, according to the Guardian.

Why the governments withdrew support

Lithuania’s foreign ministry said it had cancelled its participation because several parts of the programme differed from the government’s official position. Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Samantha Lafleur said the department assesses its participation in outside events case by case. After changes to the framing of several panel discussions, she said, it revised its participation in those sessions; Canadian officials were still taking part.

An EU spokesperson said the European External Action Service withdrew support because organisers framed some discussions in a way that did not align with official EU positions. The Guardian reported that EU officials objected to characterising the United States as a disinformation actor. The programme had been in place since June, according to the newspaper, before the governments withdrew their backing.

What the Guardian reported about US pressure

The Guardian said three people familiar with the matter, including European officials, confirmed that the US State Department had contacted multiple governments about support for #Disinfo2026. It also said internal department documents it had seen thanked Lithuania for taking US concerns seriously and welcomed its decision to limit involvement. The documents were described in the report but were not reproduced there.

According to the Guardian, the department’s concern focused on a Wednesday panel titled ‘USA as a FIMI threat: adapt, acknowledge, push back’. FIMI stands for foreign information manipulation and interference. The newspaper said the internal document described the panel’s framing of the US as a foreign information threat as ‘reprehensible and surprising’. The panel included three American speakers, one described by the Guardian as a former CIA officer.

The Guardian also reported, citing a person familiar with the deliberations, that other communications appeared to originate from the office of Sarah B. Rogers, the US undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. It said France had been contacted too. A French foreign ministry diplomatic source told the newspaper there was no reason to change France’s commitments and described support for civil society as a matter of principle and practical work.

Nina Jankowicz, a former US official and disinformation expert, told the Guardian she understood Washington had pressured Lithuania and Canada to withdraw. Her account adds a named assessment to the newspaper’s reporting; it does not make the unpublished communications or the complete sequence of government decisions public. The governments’ own explanations focused on disagreements with the conference programme.

What continued at #Disinfo2026

EU DisinfoLab lists the main conference days as 7 and 8 October in Vilnius. Its published programme describes five tracks covering information spaces, enforcement, investigations, solutions and artificial intelligence. It includes discussion of the US as a growing FIMI threat. The organiser says registration is full; it previously said attendance would be capped at 650, a capacity figure rather than a verified count of people present.

The organiser had discussed conference finances before this dispute. In a 24 June newsletter on its conference page, EU DisinfoLab said its choices about acceptable funding and complimentary tickets were expected to reduce potential income by about €50,000. It said participation fees might eventually have to rise at future editions without additional support. That earlier estimate does not measure the financial effect, if any, of this week’s withdrawals.

A separate 7 October report by Intelligence Online also said three key partners, including the EU, had dropped out at the last minute. Its accessible summary identified France’s foreign ministry as the only main remaining sponsor. The full report is subscriber-only, so its supporting detail cannot be assessed from that summary. The reviewed material also does not establish the dates or exact form of every US contact, or the outcome of sessions scheduled for Thursday.