US pressure drove Lithuania, Canada and EU to drop conference support

Lithuania, Canada and the European Union withdrew support for a conference in Vilnius after pressure from the US State Department, LRT reported. The event included criticism of President Donald Trump and discussions about US interference in other countries’ politics.

Adam Fivenson, an associate at American University’s Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology and one of the conference speakers, said he was surprised and disappointed by the withdrawals. He said he had come to Lithuania to help strengthen efforts to identify foreign influence and disinformation, build ties with organisations working in the field and expand an international network opposing authoritarian censorship and propaganda.

Fivenson said several colleagues received emails from Michael Shellenberger, who publishes a newsletter, in the days before the conference. Fivenson said he viewed the emails as attacks on democracy advocates and people who speak out about the truth. He said the messages seemed like a warning or an attempt to intimidate recipients, because Shellenberger was seen as close to the State Department and senior figures in the Make America Great Again movement. Fivenson said he did not receive an email himself.

He said conference organisers heard shortly before the event that some governments had been contacted about their support. They first learned of approaches to the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, and Canada, and later to Lithuania. Fivenson said the conference was not intended to deepen divisions between Lithuania and the United States. He accused the US government of using the event and its discussion to strain relations and harm Lithuania’s security.

Fivenson said he was concerned about what he described as a US government shift towards authoritarianism and support for populist ideas. He also said US policies on disinformation and interference in other countries could not be equated with those of Russia and China. In his view, Lithuania and other governments faced a difficult choice between US security guarantees and standing by their principles.

Fivenson said the US government included people and institutions with differing views, and that he hoped Lithuania could maintain good working relationships with some of them despite the State Department’s actions. He said many people in both countries understood what was at stake and would not play political games at the expense of Lithuania’s security.