On 25, 26 and 27 June, the EUISS together with the European University Institute - School of Transnational Governance co-organised the third edition of the Countering Foreign Interference (CFI) Dialogues, the flagship event of the CFI project.
Through interactions with representatives from European Union institutions, EU Member States, international organisations, think tanks, the private sector, and researchers, the CFI Dialogues aim to support the establishment and strengthening of a community of practice, helping stakeholders to better understand FIMI (foreign information manipulation and interference) threats and identify ways to address them.
The third edition of the CFI Dialogues aimed to address recent developments in the field of foreign interference and strengthen the CFI community of practice.
Some of the key takeaways include:
- Hostile activities across multiple domains are mutually reinforcing. FIMI is not solely a communications issue, but part of a growing ecosystem of multidomain warfare. Moreover, malign operations increasingly target academia and the wider counter-FIMI community itself.
- Russia and China increasingly invest in influence operations in Europe and beyond. Operations conducted outside the EU aim to undermine the EU’s diplomatic efforts, and especially in Africa, fill the gap created by the United States’ diminished influence in these areas. These influence operations are highly sophisticated and are designed with a good understanding of the societies that they target.
- EU Member States need to pursue active defence measures against FIMI and consider integrating counter-FIMI strategies into an expanded and dedicated defence budget.
- Awareness of interference threats, both across government departments and the population at large, remains insufficient and requires a proactive approach to enhance resilience. Governments play a key role in identifying threats, investing in countermeasures and protecting their citizens, but also in effectively communicating to them that these threats are acute and real.
Read the event report for the full list of takeaways and recommendations.
