European Commissioner: Candidate Countries to Join the EU Centre for Democratic Resilience

Countries applying for the European Union membership will be involved in the work of the European Centre for Democratic Resilience even before they join the bloc. According to European Pravda’s correspondent, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos made the announcement on Tuesday, 13 October, ahead of the EU General Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. Kos described the involvement of candidate countries in the Centre’s work as an example of enhanced gradual integration into specific EU policies and structures even before accession. “What we will do today, I’m very happy about this, is one example of an excellent enhanced gradual integration, namely – we will onboard candidates into the European Centre for Democratic Resilience,” she said. The European Commissioner explained that EU member states and candidate countries face the same problems in the areas of hybrid threats and disinformation. “If we work together even before the accession will happen, in my opinion, we can master the challenges quite well.” She said such cooperation would allow candidate countries to contribute to the security of the European Union even before the EU membership. The European Centre for Democratic Resilience was established to coordinate efforts by EU institutions and member states to counter threats to democracy, particularly foreign information manipulation, interference, and disinformation.