Brussels, 28/08/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 27 August Catherine Ray, a spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, announced that the European Union is setting up a communication team for the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).
This European Council requested this communication team in March 2015 and had underlined “the need to challenge Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns” (EUROPE 11279). The Council had asked Mogherini, in cooperation with the EU member states and institutions, “to prepare by June an action plan on strategic communication”. “The establishment of a communication team is a first step in this regard”, the European leaders had added.
The EU will nevertheless refrain from making counter-propaganda to the Russian propaganda in these Eastern Partnership countries, although it will respond to the “disinformation” that targets it directly.
The team will work on developing communication products and media campaigns that focus on explaining EU policies in the Eastern neighbourhood region, and it will monitor the media. Its aim is to strengthen the EU's ability to monitor, analyse and respond to reporting on EU policies and activities, and “to communicate effectively” on EU policies in the countries concerned.
A start-up team bringing together staff from the European External Action Service (EEAS) and other EU institutions has been set up by the EEAS. This team, which is expected to comprise ten members, should reach its full capacity in September and will then include a number of EU member state experts. The UK, Sweden and Latvia will send an expert. No specific budget has been allocated to the team. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)