"The Latvian Foreign Minister expressed strong support for the work of the EU’s East Strategic Communication Task Force, currently putting the spotlight on pro-Kremlin disinformation against the EU and countering that disinformation, as well as strengthening the media environment in the Eastern Neighbourhood countries," a statement from the ministry said.
Rinkēvičs drew attention to the continuing hybrid threat, calling for an integrated approach and joint efforts of the EU and NATO, including "close cooperation" between the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence in Rīga and the Helsinki-based European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.
Growing awareness of #disinformation is prompting a global crackdown on online influence campaigns, according to @STRATCOMCOE study. https://t.co/JwcaDDVoGc
— EU Mythbusters (@EUvsDisinfo) January 15, 2019
The response to disinformation presented in the plan has four components: improving the capabilities of EU institutions to detect, analyse and expose disinformation; strengthening coordinated and joint responses to disinformation; mobilising private sector to tackle disinformation; raising awareness and improving societal resilience, including through support for analysis and research.
The EU Task Force has fourteen full-time staff, recruited from EU institutions or seconded by EU Member States and was granted €1.1 million in 2018 for its work to address disinformation.
