The subtext was unmistakable: Europe, the bastion of “whiteness,” must be “protected” from the perceived menace of ‘mass migration’ and multiculturalism. The US would therefore ‘cultivate resistance’ – in other words, it would meddle in European affairs.
The proclamations are now turning into action.
There have been several media reports that the US State Department will use its ‘democracy promotion’ grants to support ‘conservative’ (read: far-right) movements in Europe. Millions of American taxpayers' money will be channelled into them. Initial contacts with far-right think tanks, such as the French Western Arc and the British Free Speech Union, have already been established.
The message is clear: the US government is actively shaping Europe's political trajectory, funding groups that seek to weaken the EU, roll back liberal democracy, and entrench nationalist, regressive policies.
We've seen this before. The US joins a growing list of foreign actors – Russia, China, Qatar, Morocco, Israel – who have long used financial influence to destabilise European democracies.
Yet the US government’s announcement marks a new low: a former ally openly funds movements that oppose the very values which underpinned the transatlantic relationship for years.
Europe’s dangerous complacency
European decision-makers are doing little to counter this wave of foreign interference.
Instead, European governments are cutting funding and adding obstacles to the work of independent civil society and media, which are core pillars of pluralistic democracies.
The Commission has proposed increasing funding for democratic resilience in the 2028–2034 EU budget to €8.6 billion. But even if the proposal makes it through further negotiation rounds, this sum, allocated under the so-called AgoraEU programme, is a drop in the ocean.
It accounts for barely 0.5% of the EU's €1.8 trillion budget and includes funding for a wide range of actors – from culture and media to civil society. By comparison, support for farmers alone is ring-fenced at €300 billion – 35 times more than the amount allocated to defending democracy.
The proposed AgoraEU budget would barely offset the funding used to undermine European democracies.
Russia alone spends at least two billion US dollars annually on disinformation and cyber operations, with a large chunk targeting Europe. China is likely to spend at least as much, if not more. While the numbers are not public and therefore impossible to verify, it is likely that at least €2 billion flows into foreign influence measures in Europe each year. Over the course of the budget period, that amounts to more than €14 billion, far outspending the €8.6 billion planned by the Commission.
What the EU must do now
Boosting the funding is essential, but democratic resilience must also be mainstreamed across the entire EU budget. In the proposed budget for the next 7-year period, the largest funding pots – such as the European Competitiveness Fund – barely mention democratic resilience, despite the clear links between democratic infrastructure and the EU's priorities on competitiveness and defence.
What is the point of spending money on defence to build shiny new tanks when Russia can get its strongman into power in a member state, simply through electoral interference? And if the rule of law declines across the bloc, who will protect European businesses from arbitrary decisions?
There is only one alternative to a democratically resilient Europe: a weakened EU, where nationalist factions and Trump-backed movements dictate the agenda. It'd be Europe, where women’s rights, minority protections, and the rule of law are rolled back.