EU, Ukraine see fight against disinformation as high priority - Borrell
That’s according to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who spoke at a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine-Ukrinform on Sunday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“There is a war they fight with classical arms, and there is another war, which is a war of information. Nothing new. The war of information has always existed but not it’s being used massively,” the high representative stressed.
He stressed that Russian aggression against Ukraine "is being accompanied by massive hybrid attacks, which means propaganda, manipulation of the information, disinformation campaigns, and also cyber attacks on information networks.”
“We have to fight against disinformation. This is high priority for the European Union and Ukraine,” Borrell underlined.
The official noted that ahead of the press conference he visited the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security, which is “at the forefront” of fighting against Russian disinformation.
Russian propaganda is developing at a large scale, Borrell admitted, including in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
Through disinformation, Russia is trying “to deflect its responsibility for this war, denying the occupation, annexations, the atrocities, blaming others for the consequences of the food and energy crises, trying to make the world believe that the same power that is blocking the export of grain from Ukrainian ports is innocent.”
“We have to fight against a twisted narrative,” Borrell added, noting that Russia applied similar tactics during the Cold War and more recently, during the annexation of Crimea.
“We have to win this battle because it’s not only about territory, it is about the minds of the people. And that’s why we have to build organizations and support entities like I just visited, the Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security,” the high representative noted.
He stressed that Russia is trying to undermine international support for Ukraine, trying to make people believe that this is another war that Europeans have nothing to do with.
As reported, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell arrived on a visit to Ukraine on Saturday. He visited Odesa, honored the fallen soldiers in Kyiv, and held his first personal meeting with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
