Foreign Ministry establishes temporary mechanism to combat disinformation ahead of elections

By order of the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Nadezhda Neynski, a temporary coordination mechanism is being created within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to counter disinformation and combat hybrid threats in connection with the upcoming early parliamentary elections on April 19. This was announced by the MFA press center.

The mechanism will be in effect from March 23 and is aimed at maintaining information resilience against the backdrop of an expected intensification of attempts at disinformation campaigns and manipulation of foreign policy information.

The structure will be headed by Ambassador with Special Assignments for Resilience Building Maria Spasova, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Velizar Shalamanov will exercise control over its activities.

The new mechanism will provide a timely, structured, and integrated institutional communication response to hybrid threats, attempts at external interference, and information manipulation. It will function as an internal working group, which will unite and synchronize the efforts of the different structural units within the MFA.

Among the main tasks of the working group are the centralized monitoring and analysis of information related to disinformation and external interference, the preparation of risk assessments and analytical materials for the ministry's leadership, including in connection with the organization of voting abroad.

Coordination of the institutional communication response, planning and conducting strategic communications, as well as interaction with international partners and structures of the European Union and NATO are also envisaged. Cooperation will also be carried out with civil organizations and representatives of academic circles within the framework of the activity.

Earlier today, the government reported an increase in signals of electoral violations at the first briefing of the Coordination Council for the preparation of the elections.