Brussels spends more on pro-EU PR than anti-terror operations
The European Union has come under fire from campaigners calling for Britain to leave the block after it emerged that Brussels spends more on pro-European propaganda than it does on anti-terror operations – despite a spate of bombings on the continent.
According to Vote Leave European institutions spent £16m more on communications material such as cartoons, games and colouring books than it did on countering the terrorism threat.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Vote Leave, said: “The EU places more importance on furthering the EU project than fighting terrorism, and that’s reflected in how it spends our money. The EU makes us less safe — and, as one senior MEP said last week, sees the migration crisis and recent terrorist attacks as an ‘opportunity’ for greater political integration.”
The campaigners point out that the combined ‘propaganda’ budget of the European Commission’s directorate-general for communications, European Parliament and European Court of Justice will splurge €281,964,396 on communications this year – a fraction more than the sum allotted to the terror fight.