A Council of Europe conference taking place in Chişinău on 20 March is examining innovative ways to combat disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference, and hate speech, which are eroding public trust and undermining the integrity of democratic processes across the continent.
Speaking at the opening, the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, underlined that "cognitive war is a condition, not an episode. And it affects not only Moldova. Across Europe, we are seeing the same patterns. Attempts to divide societies. To weaken trust in institutions. To influence political choices from the outside. And very often, these efforts are connected to a broader strategy. Russia's war against Ukraine is the clearest example. Alongside military aggression, there is a parallel effort to shape perceptions across Europe. To reduce support for Ukraine. To create doubt, fatigue, and division."
New legal instrument to address foreign information manipulation in works
In his opening remarks, Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset, said: "In a world in rupture, where everything is framed as security, control over information becomes a question of democratic security. Because a democracy that cannot protect its information space will not be able to protect its institutions for long." He also underlined that democratic security "requires a security architecture that strengthens institutions people can trust and protects them against coordinated interference aimed at weakening them from within. … That is why the Council of Europe is working on a new legal instrument to address foreign information manipulation and interference", he added.
In this keynote speech, Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty, highlighted that "a human-rights approach to disinformation and information manipulation is about more than freedom of expression; it is about protecting the very aspects of human life and dignity that are undermined by manipulation - from our right to privacy and electoral integrity to the safety of our most marginalised communities."
Organised under the auspices of the Moldovan Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and under the umbrella of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, the conference brings together government representatives, international organisations, academia, and representatives of civil society and the media to exchange critical experiences and discuss specific mechanisms to build a more trustworthy information environment and promote media and information literacy.
Within the framework of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, Council of Europe member states are currently examining the feasibility of adopting a Council of Europe legal instrument in the field of criminal law to counter threats related to foreign information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, election interference and other related hybrid threats. Experts from member states have already prepared a feasibility study that the ministers of foreign affairs will discuss during the Committee of Ministers session to be held in Chişinău on 14 and 15 May 2026.
New policy guides launched
Today's conference will launch two new policy guides adopted by the Council of Europe intergovernmental committee on media and information society, aimed at supporting the 46 member states. While the first guide focuses on guiding states in developing national media and information literacy strategies, the second, entitled Resisting disinformation: ten building blocks to strengthen information integrity, contains complementary measures to combat disinformation and strengthen information integrity.
The Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, Cristian Jardan, and the Director for democracy of the Council of Europe, Matjaž Gruden, will speak at the closing of the conference.
