A workshop on strategies to counter foreign information manipulation and interference to safeguard democratic elections was held Nov. 9 in Brussels under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Titled “Fair and Free, but How Secure? Foreign Interference and Elections,” the workshop was organized by the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium in collaboration with the U.S. Mission to the EU and the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at Brussels School of Governance. It was the first GCTF event held in the European city.
According to the MOFA, the one-day event saw around 100 experts, officials and representatives of nongovernmental organizations discuss how foreign interference continues to pose a threat while exchanging views on ways to safeguard democratic processes and institutions with concrete countermeasures. Taiwan’s Rep. to the EU and Belgium Alexander Tah-ray Yui; Deb Lynn, minister counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Mission to the EU; and Luis Simon, director of CSDS, all delivered remarks during the workshop, the ministry added.
The organizers said 2024 will be a big test for counter-interference strategies, with Taiwan’s presidential election, European elections and the U.S. presidential election slated for January, mid-year and November, respectively. It’s essential to understand how democratic partners can better work together to address such challenges, they added.
Since its launch in June 2015 by Taiwan and the U.S., with Japan and Australia joining later, GCTF has become a critical platform for the four sides to contribute to global problem-solving and share expertise with regional stakeholders in areas such as energy cooperation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, media literacy, public health, and women’s empowerment, the ministry said. (SFC-E)
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