On 19-20 November 2021, the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, took part in a high-level forum “Future of Democracy”, which took place in Vilnius.
As the Minister spoke in a session titled “Building anti-populist resilience in the democratic societies”, he drew attention to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to democratic values – increasing disinformation and the attempts of certain political forces to use the situation for promoting their agendas. Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined the role of independent media in the prevention of disinformation, as well as the need to develop and promote internationally the norms of digital governance that protect freedom of expression and privacy online, while making it possible to target disinformation. The Foreign Minister also called for the EU’s common response to disinformation operations.
About the forum
In response to worrying trends – contracting democratic space and authoritarian entrenchment – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania organised a forum, “The Future of Democracy”, on 19 and 20 November in Vilnius. The event brought together ministers of foreign affairs, representatives of international organizations, members of civil society, academia, and representatives of free media, as well as democracy activists.
The forum was held in support of the upcoming Summit for Democracy initiated by the US President Joe Biden and planned for 9-10 December 2021.