The hybrid threats to Moldova’s security are new type of war to which the country should be prepared to respond. The defense institutions permanently face new challenges with which they can cope only by permanent reformation. It is one of the conclusions of the roundtable meeting “Phenomenon of hybrid politics in the Eastern European region: information security from media perspective in Moldova and Ukraine” that was organized by the Foreign Policy Association with the support of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, IPN reports.
In his introductive speech, Arcadie Barbăroșie, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy, said ten years ago this them wasn’t discussed, but the hybrid threats have recently appeared on the international agenda not only in Eastern Europe, but also in the U.S. “We see on social networking sites, on Odnoklassniki for example, that the phenomenon of propaganda as part of the hybrid threats appears two months before the elections and stops immediately after the elections. Such a phenomenon moves to Facebook too,” stated Arcadie Barbăroșie.
Aurel Fondos, of the Ministry of Defense, said the subject is very complex. “The hybrid threats are also stipulated in the defense strategy of the Republic of Moldova. Emphasis in the modernization of the army is also placed on the emerging hybrid threats,” he stated, noting among the measures that should be taken by the defense institution are the protection of infrastructure against acts of sabotage, improvement of defense capacity, communication with society and prevention of interethnic tensions that can be used by entities that are hostile to Moldova.
For his part, Gheorghe Racoviță, head of the staff of the Security and Intelligence Service’s director, enumerated several of the current hybrid threats, like hostile propaganda, creation of internal groups hostile to the state, encouragement of secessionism, modeling of processes so that the target state is permanently on the verge of war. The SIS took concrete defense measures and an analytical-informational section was created to deal with hybrid theaters. The institution is permanently reformed.
Anastasia Nani, of the Independent Journalism Center, spoke about the duties of the media in the fight against fake news and propaganda, which are an active part of hybrid threats, and about the necessity of educating media consumers to differentiate between fake and real news so as not to become victims of propaganda.
The event involved representatives of state institutions, civil society, media outlets, the diplomatic corps working in Chisinau and the academia.
