The Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, launched her ‘Democracy Tour’ in Helsinki (Finland) on Wednesday 28 February.
Ms Jourová is seeking to strengthen the integrity of the forthcoming European elections. This visit marks the start of a series of trips to discuss strategies for combating disinformation and foreign interference in electoral processes.
She met the Finnish Defence Minister, Antti Häkkanen, to discuss the issues raised by foreign interference in an electoral context.
To discuss the issues surrounding disinformation, Věra Jourová visited the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which focuses on countering strategies that combine military action, disinformation operations, cyber attacks and other unconventional means to destabilise or influence a State without open conflict.
Discussions were also held with officials from the Ministry of Justice on the integrity of elections and the ‘Defence of Democracy’ legislative package (see EUROPE 13335/28), as well as with the Minister for European Affairs, Anders Adlercreutz, and various stakeholders on media freedom.
Ms Jourová’s visit ended at the Commission Representation with a speech on ‘Encouraging young people to participate in the democratic process’ and a discussion with students.
Her tour continues in Italy on 7 March. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)