Propaganda pressure on the EU from Russia and Islamist terrorist groups is growing, members of the European Parliament warn in a resolution voted on Wednesday.

It seeks to distort the truth, incite fear, provoke doubt and divide the EU. To counteract anti-EU campaigns, MEPs suggest reinforcing the EU’s tiny “strategic communication” task force and investing more in awareness raising, education, online and local media, investigative journalism and information literacy, EP reported.

In the Wednesday vote, 304 MEPs supported the resolution based on the report “EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties”’ written by a Polish member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, Anna Fotyga, with 179 voting against it and 208 abstaining.

“MEPs warn that the Kremlin has stepped up its propaganda against EU since annexing Crimea and waging hybrid war in the Donbass. They note that ”the Russian government is employing a wide range of tools and instruments, such as think tanks [...], multilingual TV stations (e.g. Russia Today), pseudo-news agencies and multimedia services (e.g. Sputnik) [...], social media and internet trolls, to challenge democratic values, divide Europe, gather domestic values, divide Europe, gather domestic support and create the perception of failed states in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood”

The resolution stresses that the “Kremlin is funding political parties and other organisations within the EU” and deplores “Russian backing of anti-EU forces” such as extreme-right parties and populist forces.