News

On 30 January 2020, the European Union (EU) and Ukraine held their 3rd High Level Informal Working Group on Strategic Communications in Kyiv, Ukraine.

 

The EU and Ukraine underlined the importance of the Informal Working Group as a platform for genuine dialogue and mutual learning in the fields of strategic communications, countering disinformation and media issues. The EU expressed its continued solidarity and support to Ukraine in countering hybrid threats. Both sides discussed concrete possibilities for further co-operation in building Ukraine's resilience in this area.

 

The EU presented its ongoing support activities and expressed its readiness to step up its engagement in Ukraine, notably by capacity building support and fostering synergies with already existing initiatives. Ukraine committed to reinforce the Government’s ownership of the strategic communication at central and local level, and to the sustained implementation of the 2018-2021 Communication Strategy on European Integration and its annual action plans.

 

The participants agreed that EEAS East StratCom Task Force and Ukraine will reinforce cooperation and common activities with view to countering disinformation and holding information campaigns.

 

The EU and Ukraine discussed the foreseen plans on the audio-visual media and disinformation legislation and agreed that this legislation should be in line with shared principles of freedom of media and expression.  

 

The meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine, Mr. Matti Maasikas and the Deputy Prime Minister on European and Euro Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, Mr. Dmytro Kuleba, in the presence of the EEAS Director for Interinstitutional Relations, Policy Coordination and Public Diplomacy, Mr. Oliver Rentschler and the Head of the Support Group for Ukraine, Mr. Peter Wagner.