EU strategic communication to counteract anti-EU propaganda by third parties (A8-0290/2016 - Anna Elżbieta Fotyga)
Miroslav Poche (S&D), in writing. ‒ The main point of the report is to counter propaganda and radicalisation through cooperation between the Member States and the European institutions. Unfortunately, the report identifies two threats regarding propaganda: a non-state actor, the terrorist group known as Daesh or ISIS, and a state actor, Russia. I believe the propaganda targeting EU and its citizens is an undeniable fact, the need to react by strategic communication is apparent, but mixing the state and non-state actors is not the correct approach.
However, the fact that the EU states are subject to a very strong propaganda, while the Russian one is more present in the Central and Eastern Europe, made me express my support to the report. I am persuaded, however, that further attention should be given to both Russian and Daesh actions, but in a separate way. The separation is necessary not only because of the political gap but also because of the different strategic communication targets. Countering the propaganda and the radicalisation requires cooperation between the Member States and the European institutions. We should not underestimate the role of efficient propaganda and visible impacts on our society.