News

On 24 February in Washington, DC, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel and participated in a discussion with a community of experts at the National Endowment for Democracy. Participants debated the most effective ways to counter Russia’s informational pressure and to respond to disinformation.

“Russia, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, is waging aggression against its neighbouring country, Ukraine, denies it publicly and the Western countries are unable to stop it,” said the Minister.

The Minister informed Under Secretary Richard Stengel about EU initiatives to strengthen the response to Russian propaganda, specifically about the Strategic communication document prepared by Lithuania, United Kingdom, Denmark and Estonia. Minister also urged to unite efforts of the EU and the USA.

“In order to ensure alternatives to Russian information sources, the USA and the EU must strongly support each other and avoid competition. It is important that the United States renew its public diplomacy programs in Europe. If we do not consider propaganda as a serious problem and do not coordinate our actions in offering alternative Russian speaking media, we shall not be successful in this struggle,” said  Linkevičius. Mr. Stengel presented initiatives of the US Department of State on the media consolidation in Eastern Europe, as well as shared his views about the ongoing discussions on the cooperation with the EU in order to find ways how to respond to propaganda and reduce public vulnerability.