Hybrid threats and countermeasures

Hybrid threats and measures to counteract them, especially in the preparation of the May European Parliament elections, have been debated on Thursday in Bucharest at a conference organized by Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Conference starts from the premise that, hybrid threats are among the greatest threats to security and stability of the EU at the moment but also in the foreseeable future, and boundary between threats and hybrid war is very thin.

Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleșcanu insisted that the EU, in cooperation with NATO, should not leave unanswered any threats.

Teodor Meleșcanu: We must avoid importing external vulnerabilities into the EU and NATO. Disinformation is one of these vulnerabilities. Countering it should not be left to the discretion of the media or non-governmental organizations. Governments have to act too not to limit freedom of expression, but to determine what the real facts are. Thus, strategic communication provides us with a tool to defend and promote the alternative of a discourse based on truth and real facts.

In turn, European Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King, explained that among the most dangerous hybrid threats are those that include cybernetics, and propaganda and disinformation alter the behavior of citizens.

Obviously disinformation cannot be countered without collaboration with the large internet platforms and social networks that need to improve the transparency of information sources.

Unfortunately, Commissioner said, a report from the European Commission to be presented today, shows that social networks have made less progress in the field lately.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei