The European Union authorities intend to create a Centre for Democratic Resilience, designed to combat disinformation coming from Russia and other authoritarian regimes. The information is published by The Guardian, which cites an internal document of the European Commission.
The new centre will be part of the “Democracy Shield” initiative, proposed by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. It will coordinate the exchange of informational data and will contribute to raising public awareness about the attempts of foreign governments to manipulate information.
The project mentions that Russia, in addition to its military aggression against Ukraine, also carries out hybrid attacks against Europe. “By spreading false information, manipulations and falsifications of history, Russia is trying to undermine trust in democratic systems,” The Guardian quotes from the draft document.
The European Commission aims to gather experts from all EU member states, as well as from candidate countries, within the framework of the centre. Participation will be voluntary. At the same time, the possibility for “partners with similar visions” to join is envisaged – which, according to the British publication, opens the door for the participation of the United Kingdom.