The joint visit of NATO Secretary General Mr Jens Stoltenberg and and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to Lithuania and Latvia took place on November 27, 2021 to demonstrate solidarity with NATO Allies and EU member states in the Baltic region, and to further strengthen the cooperation between NATO and the EU. As part of the visit delegation received briefings on current hybrid threats by Col Jaak Tarien, Director of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, Ms Teija Tiilikainen, Director of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and Mr Jānis Sārts, Director of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.
The brief prepared by the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence provides the information on influence as a tool of hybrid threats. The brief emphasizes the wide use of hybrid tools by authoritatian regimes, the intentions of malicious actors to exploit the open nature of democratic societies to deliberately interfere in internal affairs and create a climate of distrust, as well as provides a summary of recent malign activities StratCom COE has observed in the digital environment. For the full version of the brief see the attachment.
More information on the visit: Joint NATO-EU visit highlights solidarity and cooperation through visit to Baltic region by NATO