Tbilisi hosts EU Strategic Communications Forum "EU vs Disinformation"
By Tsotne Pataraia
Friday, November 22
Tbilisi is the host of the EU strategic communications forum entitled "EU vs Disinformation." According to the government administration, the event is being organized by the EU in corporation with the Administration of the Government of Georgia.
According to Natia Mezvrishvili, head of the government administration, the forum is quite diverse in terms of participants as it is attended by representatives of not only European countries, but also representatives and strategic communications experts from the US:
"Today Georgia is hosting a very important forum – “EU vs Disinformation”. We are participating in this forum since the issue is quite important for our country. At the conference, we will discuss the important steps taken by the Georgian government, with the help of our foreign partners and joint steps to combat disinformation daily. The attention will also be paid to future actions that are necessary to continue effectively fighting against disinformation,” said Mezvrishvili.
As Natia Mezvrishvili stated, the Government of Georgia is taking effective steps in the direction of strategic communications with the support of international partners:
“The government has made significant strides in this direction in the recent period and established effective strategic communications mechanisms, both at specific ministries and the central level, at the Office of the Prime Minister of Georgia. In this regard, we work very closely with our partners. Both in terms of training and conferences, and in terms of information exchange in general,” noted Natia Mezvrishvili.
EU Ambassador to Georgia H.E. Carl Hartzell commented on the event. As the diplomat pointed out, misinformation is a serious problem for everyone, including Europe:
“I am very proud and pleased to see that the EU Strategic Communication Team is in Tbilisi. This is the first event hosted by the Strategic Communication Team from Brussels in the regions. Experts from all over the region are attending the event. They will have a good opportunity to exchange information. Disinformation is a black plague for everyone, including Europe. This is a real challenge and we are doing everything within our borders to succeed, but we are also working with Georgia and other countries to exchange information so that we can come together to fight this disease," said Carl Hartzell.
The purpose of the forum is to inform the public on strategic communications and disinformation, to share the experience with the EU and Eastern Partnership countries and to promote public diplomacy.
