Activities of Traian UNGUREANU related to 2016/2030(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU strategic communication to counteract anti-EU propaganda by third parties (debate) RO
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on EU strategic communication to counteract propaganda against it by third parties PDF (497 KB) DOC (74 KB)
Amendments (30)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
– having regard to the European Council conclusions of 19 and 20 March 2015,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
– having regard to the EU Regional Strategy for Syria and Iraq as well as the ISIL/Da'esh threat of 16 March 2015 and reconfirmed by the Foreign Affairs Council on 23rd May 2016,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 c (new)
Citation 1 c (new)
– having regard to the report of the VP/HR on The European Union in a changing global environment A more connected, contested and complex world from 18 May 2015 and the ongoing work on a new EU Global Security Strategy,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the EU has committed to guide its actions on the international scene by the principles that have inspired its creation and development, such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EU is under growing, systematic pressure to tackle the information, disinformation and misinformation campaigns from its neighbourhood, in the east and fromin the south;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas EU is based on democratic principles of the rule of law, human rights and freedom and has an open political agenda while third party actors aiming at discrediting the Union do not share the same values;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the European Council of 19 and 20 March 2015 stressed the need to challenge Russia's ongoing disinformation campaigns and invited the VP/HR, in cooperation with Member States and EU institutions, to prepare an Action Plan on strategic communication;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the overall objectives of the Action Plan are effective communication and promotion of EU policies and values towards the Eastern neighbourhood, strengthening of the overall media environment, including support for independent media, increased public awareness of disinformation activities by external actors, and improved EU capacity to anticipate and respond to such activities;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the information warfare targetingis a historical phenomenon as old as warfare itself; whereas targeted information warfare against the West was first introduced by the Soviet Union, and has since been an integral part of modern warfare, targeting not only partners of the EU, but also all Member States and citizens irrespective of their nationality or religion;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas information warfare constitutes an intrinsic part of hybrid warfare, a combination of military and non-military measures of a covert and overt nature, deployed to destabilise the political, economic and social situation of a country being under attack, without formal declaration of war, by unleashing chaos and confusion;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas ISIL/Da’esh and many other Islamic terrorist groups have often used communication strategies as part of their actions against the West and to boost recruitment of European youth;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas a truly effective EU counter-propaganda strategy should be differentiated and adapted to the nature of the actors disseminating propaganda;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that strategic propaganda against the EU comes in many different forms and uses various tools, often tailored to match Member States’ profiles, with the goal of provoking doubt, paralysing the decision-making process, impacting the behaviour of the targeted audience, discrediting the EU institutions in the eyes and minds of its citizens and of citizens of neighbouring countries and eroding western values and transatlantic ties;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the multi-layered character of current EU strategic communications at various levels, including NATO, the EU, the Member States, and NGOs as well as civic organisations; calls for the best possible coordinenhanced cooperation and exchange of information between the different actors involved;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises that the EU must consider its strategic communication efforts as a priority, which should involve relevant resources; reiterates that the EU is a successful model of integration which continues, amid crisis, to attract countries wanting to replicate and integrate with it; underlines therefore the EU needs to put out its positive message about its successes, values and principles with determination and courage, and the EU needs to be offensive in its narrative, not defensive;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises that Russia has been aggressively employing a wide range of tools and instruments, such as special foundations (Russkiy Mir,) multilingual TV stations (Russia Today, RIA Novosti), news agencies (Sputnik), social and religious groups (including the Orthodox church)groups, social media and internet trolls to challenge Western values, divide Europe, gather domestic support and create the perception of failing states in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood; stresses that Russia invests relevant financial resources in its disinformation strategy and propaganda instruments engaged either directly by state or through Kremlin controlled companies and organisations;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is seriously concerned by Russia's disinformation campaigns as well as the rapidly growing Russian activity in Europe seeking to increase Russian influence and hegemony; stresses that a large part of Russian strategic communication is aimed at describing countries in central and eastern Europe as belonging to its traditional sphere of influence, thereby undermining their sovereignty; notes that falsifying history is one of its main strategies;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that the EU is strengthening relations with its Eastern partners and other neighbours, and also keeps the lines of communication with Russia open; stresses that the EU supports Russian civil society and invests in people-to-people contacts; recognises that the biggest obstacle to Russian disinformation campaigns would be the existence of independent and free media in Russia itself; considers that achieving this should be the goal of the EU;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Stresses the need to raise awareness of Russian persistent disinformation campaigns among the elites, journalists and ordinary citizens, in the age of global media outlets no one is exempt from the influence of such campaigns; considers it necessary to build resilience, prevent and respond in good time; considers it of paramount importance for the EU to actively engage in spreading the EU message in Russia as well as among Russian language speakers in the EU and Eastern Partnership countries;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Understanding and tackling ISIL/Da’esh’s information warfare and radicalisation methods
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. IWelcomes the efforts by the Global Coalition to counter ISIL/Da'esh; supports the EU Regional Strategy for Syria and Iraq as well as the ISIL/Da'esh threat; is aware of the range of strategies employed by ISIL/Da’esh both regionally and globally to promote its political, religious and social narratives; calls on the EU and its Member States to further develop athe counter- narrative to ISIL/Da’esh, including through the empowerment and increased visibility of mainstream Muslim scholars who have the credibility to delegitimise ISIL/Da’esh’s propaganda; underlines that in the United States the Global Engagement Center coordinates, integrates and synchronizes messaging to foreign audiences that undermines the disinformation espoused by violent extremist groups, including ISIL/Da'esh and al-Qaeda, and that offers positive alternatives;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Welcomes the creation of the Arab Stratcom Task Force that has the potential to contribute effectively to the deconstruction and to the fight against Daesh extremist propaganda and influence; believes that the focus put by this Task Force on the support of local actors through pilot projects is the right approach to develop counter-narratives to terrorist propaganda and promote fundamental rights; considers the full involvement of EU delegations as a positive development that facilitates the Task Force support to journalists and media actors;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Is concerned about the widespread use by Daesh of social media tools and especially Twitter and Facebook to advance its propaganda and recruitment objectives, recalls the need for further engagement from the social media companies to combat the terrorist propaganda more efficiently; highlights the involvement of the European Parliament in countering terrorist content and hate speech online through the EU Internet Forum;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Emphasises that the EU is also a targeted audience for ISIL/Da’esh and; calls for the EU and its Member States to work morecontinue to work closely to protect society, in particular young people, from terrorist attacks and from recruitment and radicalisation; calls on each Member State to underlinvestig thate the socio-demographCouncil has called to promote criminal justice reaspons that are at the root cause of vulnerability to radicalisatione measures to radicalization leading to terrorism and violent extremism;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Member States to work on cutting ISIL/Daesh’s access to financing and funding and to promote this principle in the EU’s external action and stresses the need to expose ISIL/Da’esh’s true nature and ideological legitimisation;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the cAction Plan on strategic communication; welcomes the Joint Communication on the Joint Framework on countering hybrid threats and calls for the endorsement and implementation of its recommendations without delay; stresses that the actions proposed require cooperation and coordination of all relevant actors at the EU and national level; is of the opinion that only a comprehensive approach can lead to a success of EU efforts; calls on countries holding the rotating presidency of the EU to always include strategic communications as part of their programme in order to ensure continuity of work on this topic; welcomes the initiatives and achievements of the Latvian Presidency in this regard;
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Reminds that countering propaganda with propaganda is counterproductive, therefore understands that the EU, as a whole, and member states, individually, can only fight propaganda by third parties by rebutting disinformation campaigns and making use of positive messaging and information;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Calls on each member state to make available to their citizens the disinformation digest and disinformation review as drafted by EU Strategic Communication Task Force in order to create awareness among the general public on propaganda methods used by third parties;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Welcomes the establishment of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, which became functional in January 2014;