In the face of a hot war on the borders of NATO and the EU, it is necessary for democratic governments, including Polish ones, societies and institutions, to become more resistant to hybrid threats – emphasized KO MP Michał Szczerba during the Fighting Misinformation Online CEE: Election Integrity in the Age of conference AI.
On Tuesday, the Fighting Misinformation Online CEE: Election Integrity in the Age of AI conference was held in Warsaw, dedicated to the fight against disinformation and artificial intelligence during elections. The event was attended by, among others: KO MP and chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Michał Szczerba, and director of the NATO Center of Expertise for Strategic Communication in Riga, Janis Sarts.
Szczerba began his speech by emphasizing that “we face threats from large authoritarian states intensifying destabilization and interference campaigns.”
“In the face of a hot war on the borders of NATO and the EU, it is necessary for democratic governments, including the Polish government, societies and institutions, to become more resistant to hybrid threats, in particular manipulation and interference with foreign information,” he said.
The President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly also spoke about the proposal to establish a Democratic Resilience Center at NATO headquarters. “We believe that NATO is not about military potential and strength, but about values, about building the resilience of our societies. That is why we want to put this idea at the top of our agenda during the Washington Summit,” he emphasized.
The MP also noted that he strongly supports “the creation of a unified strategy to combat disinformation that would combine the efforts, knowledge and resources of the government, technology companies, non-governmental organizations, academic and educational institutions and civil societies.”
Janis Sarts emphasized at the beginning of his speech that it was already the third year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “This is the biggest battle, war in Europe since World War II. However, this war is being fought in the information environment of the 21st century,” he said.
He added that “what we can learn is that in the 21st century, information as a battlefield is even more important.”
The conference also featured, among others: Commander of the Cyberspace Defense Forces, General Karol Molenda, and Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Henryka Mościcka-Dendys.
