Russia’s “information policy” is among the most important challenges that NATO faces, said the head of the military committee of the North Atlantic alliance, General Peter Pavel, to the Czech portal Lidovky.cz
“Russia is trying to shake the way Western society perceives NATO, its goals and actions,” Pavel said. “It does this very effectively, because the public usually perceives information through captions and abbreviations, artificially created information may seem right,” he added.
He called on the alliance to strengthen the unity that, in his words, Russia is trying to undermine. “We show our opponents that aggression is pricey, and it has little chance of success,” he added.
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At the end of April, the Foreign Ministers of NATO countries at a meeting in Brussels confirmed their readiness to pursue a previous policy towards Russia, including, among other things, strong deterrence and meaningful dialogue.
As the Secretary General of the Alliance Jens Stoltenberg noted, it is important for the organization to react quickly to the emerging challenges, as was the case in the Salisbury incident, and to demonstrate unity.
The situation with the Russian media in the West has become increasingly difficult in recent years. In November last year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, which refers to the need to counter Russian media, while the main threats are Sputnik and RT. A number of Western politicians, including US senators and congressmen, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron, accused Sputnik and RT of interfering in the elections in the US and France, but did not provide any evidence. Official Russian representatives called such statements unsubstantiated.