The Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited national teams from the Lublin Triangle countries and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives of Polish and international public institutions, the media, non-governmental organisations and the big tech sector to participate in the simulation. The main goal of the event was to strengthen the capabilities of defence against foreign interference in the information environment of our democracies through enhancing international and interinstitutional cooperation and the public-private partnership.

“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been accompanied by consistent disinformation activities. Their purpose, on the one hand, is to undermine the support for Ukraine and solidarity with the country, and on the other hand to sow and deepen division among our societies. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the organisation of this kind of events, therefore makes every effort to strengthen the abilities and competences to identify and counter disinformation both in Poland and among our closest partners from the Lublin Triangle and the United Kingdom,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Wojciech Gerwel during the launch of the Demystifying Disinformation conference.

The participants of the conference were alerted that Russia uses disinformation as a non-military measure to achieve its military goals. They also discussed the role of technology companies in countering disinformation and highlighted the function that the non-governmental sector fulfils in the process. The conference was a prelude to a two-day simulation game launched by Head of the Foreign Service Arkady Rzegocki. The exercise consisted in a disinformation attack by a hostile regime to which national teams of delegates from the Lublin Triangle countries and the United Kingdom were supposed to respond. At the same time, the simulation was attended by teams representing the European Union and NATO, NGOs, the media and technology companies.

“Cooperation between governmental and non-governmental entities is often a key factor when countering disinformation. This is why the possibility to carry out the simulation helped identify both gaps and strengths in the resilience systems of countries participating in the event”, said Shiho Rybski, a director at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which co-organised the event.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson