Lisbon, July 19, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal is part of the European network of experts to combat disinformation and cyberattacks, which already has 30 volunteer countries that are members of the European Political Community (EPC), a source from the prime minister's office told Lusa on Friday.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the network on Thursday. At the European Political Community (EPC) summit, Macron co-chaired a working group on the issue with Moldova.
Macron made the announcement at a press conference at the end of the event held at Blenheim Palace in north-west London.
Portugal's prime minister, Luís Montenegro, had planned to attend the EPC meeting but cancelled his attendance for health reasons. Today, he extended his absence until Sunday for the same reasons, which are not serious but require rest.
The network, for which 30 FPC member countries, including Portugal, have already volunteered, will coordinate experts ‘to define common standards and protocols to identify information manipulation and cyber-attacks’.
Macron emphasised on Thursday that European countries will be able to ‘benefit from best practices and promote the transparency of social media algorithms that can contribute to this manipulation of information’.
The network would go beyond the mechanisms already in place in the European Union (EU) to also include states that don't belong to the EU bloc, especially some of those most exposed to Russian disinformation, such as Moldova.
The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, also urged European leaders not to resign themselves to threats to democracy, such as disinformation and rumours, and to be active in defending their values and institutions.
Sánchez, according to sources in the Spanish delegation to the EFE news agency, warned of the threats to democracies beyond wars like the one in Ukraine, and in this context, he highlighted the attitudes and strategies that promote disinformation and rumours.
The Spanish politician also pointed out that democracies cannot remain impassive, and their leaders, who he emphasised were democratically elected, must confront them to protect their values and institutions.
He emphasised that the conditions for healthy and open political debate and freedom of expression must be actively promoted at all times.
The European Political Community is an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions on the future of Europe, created in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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