European Commission spokesman Peter Stano said on Thursday that the European Union expects Serbia to combat disinformation.

Stano told Radio Free Europe that Serbia is expected to actively combat the manipulation of information which includes disinformation and other hybrid threats, commenting the launch of Russia Today’s online Serbian language service.

Stano said in his written reply to RFE that Russia Today is part of Russia’s propaganda and disinformation instruments following in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

We expect Serbia to refrain from intensifying its relations with Russia in the context of its aggression on Ukraine, he said.