On 21 November 2024, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Dace Melbārde, participated in an event on “Countering Russian Disinformation and Building Societal resilience to Information Challenges” organized by the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia and the European Commission Representation in Latvia. The event took place on the day when Ukraine celebrates the Day of Dignity and Freedom.
In her opening speech, the Parliamentary Secretary reiterated Latvia’s unwavering support for Ukraine, including cooperation in the field of countering disinformation. Dace Melbārde spoke highly of Ukraine’s knowledge, expertise, skills and innovative approach in the efforts to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda. The activities by the Ukrainian government agencies as well as the civil society and media can teach us a masterclass on fighting back against Russian disinformation and propaganda. For example, we can learn a lot from Ukrainian media, including regional outlets, where already now we can see examples of using Artificial Intelligence to debunk Russian disinformation.
The Parliamentary Secretary underlined that the European Union did the right thing to sanction major Russian propaganda outlets in 2022, while pointing out that an even more resolute action is needed. Sanctions should also target Russian domestic propaganda entities and workers. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the impact of Artificial Intelligence as regards information manipulation.
The Special Envoy on Digital Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Viktors Makarovs, also took part in the discussion. The Special Envoy emphasized that in order to tackle Russian information manipulation, cooperation needs to be strengthened among allies and like-minded countries. At the same time, we must continue working on the formulation of international norms and provide practical support in the area of information integrity to countries in other regions.
