EU, Canada and Lithuania Drop Disinformation Conference Backing After US Pressure
After pressure from the US State Department, Lithuania, Canada and the EU's diplomatic service withdrew official sponsorship of the #Disinfo2026 conference in Vilnius. The governments say the programme conflicts with their official positions, while France is maintaining its support.
The Trump administration pressed several countries to pull their sponsorship of a major European conference on disinformation, and Canada, Lithuania and the EU's diplomatic service subsequently agreed to do so, according to information obtained by the Guardian.
The conference, #Disinfo2026, is being held on Wednesday and Thursday at a Vilnius hotel and is organised by EU Disinfo Lab, an independent non-profit based in Brussels. It is the annual gathering of Europe's counter-disinformation community and has attracted hundreds of researchers, journalists, technologists and policymakers.
A few days before the event, the logos of its principal backers were removed from its website: the Lithuanian foreign ministry, the European External Action Service and Global Affairs Canada. On printed official materials, the logos were reportedly covered with white stickers.
Dispute over a panel
Several people familiar with the matter confirmed that the US State Department had contacted multiple governments. Internal department documents show US officials thanking Lithuania for "taking US concerns seriously" and noting that Lithuania considered a panel portraying the US as a foreign information threat "reprehensible and surprising". The panel, titled "USA as a FIMI threat: adapt, acknowledge, push back", featured three American speakers, including a former CIA officer.
Nina Jankowicz, a former US official, said she understood Washington had pressured Lithuania and Canada. The Guardian understood from French officials that France was also contacted.
Governments' explanations
Lithuania's foreign ministry said several parts of the programme differed from the government's official position. Canada said it revised its participation after changes to the framing of several panels, though its officials are still attending. An EU spokesperson said the organisers framed some discussions in a way that does not align with official EU positions. The EU continues to fund the conference. The programme had been public since June.
A French diplomatic source stressed that France would not change its commitments and called the conference a "laboratory" for European disinformation policy.
Lithuania's decision came as Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius offered to pay for a permanent US military base, a request Trump said he would consider.
