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Combatting Disinformation in the Western Balkans: Final Conference


The final conference on Combating Disinformation in the Western Balkans brought together experts, civil society, and institutional representatives to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time. 

This conference marked the conclusion of the ‘Combatting Disinformation in the Western Balkans (CDWB)‘ project, which has been tackling the rising influence of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, and Serbia.  In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, disinformation in the region surged, fueled by polarisation, skepticism towards EU integration, and state-controlled media. The project aimed to counter this through citizen engagement, media education, and strengthening fact-checking, while promoting regional cooperation to address these systemic challenges.

The panels engaged indiscussions on manipulative narratives, the role of legislation, the potential of AI, and innovative tools like citizen assemblies to foster democratic resilience. While significant progress has been made, it’s clear that sustained political will and collaboration are essential to truly combat disinformation and protect democratic values in the region.

Underscoring key takeaways

During the panel on election disinformation, Jelena Danilović (Analyst, Atlantic Council of Montenegro) emphasised how “manipulative narratives significantly distort public opinion during elections in the Western Balkans.”Teodora Ćurčić, Data journalist and investigative reporter at CINS, stressed the importance of not just establishing regulations but ensuring they are enforced effectively. This reflects the ongoing challenge of addressing disinformation in the region, where strong laws exist but are often inadequately applied. Finally, citizens assemblies were presented as a key innovative tool to support democracy and combat disinformation in the Western Balkans. While assemblies blend direct and representative democracy, transparency is crucial to ensure they don’t backfire. Adriana Buchiu, representative of the Parliamentary Support and Capacity Building Unit at the European Parliament stressed the importance of managing expectations when it comes to these assemblies: “We must explain to citizens why not all of their recommendations can be implemented” as they ultimately depend on parliament and government.

A Roadmap to combat disinformation

Following 4 national citizen assemblies organised in the framework of the CDWB project, 16 national level policy dialogues and 2 regional policy dialogues, the project has developed a comprehensive roadmap for regional cooperation on combatting disinformation. 

This roadmap identifies 9 key challenges, with a total of 36 actionable points:

  • Challenge 1: Strengthening the regulatory and institutional framework in which media operate.
  • Challenge 2: Enhancing media and information literacy among citizens in the Western Balkans region.
  • Challenge 3: Incorporating approaches to countering disinformation in education systems.
  • Challenge 4: Building resilience against Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), including the media sphere and election campaigns.
  • Challenge 5: Strengthening self-regulatory mechanisms of the media.
  • Challenge 6: Addressing declining trust in public institutions through citizen participation.
  • Challenge 7: Reducing polarising public narratives, including hate speech. 
  • Challenge 8: Strengthening funding mechanisms for public broadcasters and public interest media.
  • Challenge 9: Improving the veracity of information of public interest and countering the dissemination of (intentionally) false narratives in the form of mis- or disinformation.

The Roadmap is currently being finalised to incorporate the valuable feedback received during the conference and will be shared with national policy-makers in tailored in-person discussions in each capital.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference
CDWB final conference