Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The European Commission in Brussels said through a statement that from April 8 to 14, the Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourova, will visit Riga, Latvia, and Lisbon, Portugal, on her “democracy tour,” during which she will visit several member states in the coming weeks. preceding the European elections. The overall aim of the Democracy Tour is to exchange views on how best to protect elections and strengthen the resilience of democracies, including against disinformation, manipulation of information and foreign interference – especially in light of the European elections in June.
The Vice President's visit to Riga will begin with meetings with representatives of civil society, media and academic organizations on Latvia's work to combat disinformation. She will then meet with interlocutors involved in the organization and supervision of the European elections, including from the Electoral Commission and the Office for the Prevention of Corruption. Vice President Jourova will also meet with Latvian Foreign Minister Krishanis Karic, focusing on supporting Ukraine, defending democracy, combating disinformation, and supporting independent media from Russia and Belarus. The Vice President's day will conclude with a meeting with the Director of NATO's Center of Excellence for Strategic Communications.
The week will conclude with a two-day visit to Lisbon, where the Vice President will hold meetings with the National Electoral Commission. Vice President Jourova will participate in a roundtable discussion with representatives of Portuguese public and private media companies. This will be followed by another roundtable with national actors that have an operational role in the context of elections, for example, the National Electoral Commission and the National Cyber Security Centre. Later in the day, the Vice President will travel to Portalegre, where she will participate in a public event with young people about defending democracy.
The next stop on Vice President Jourova's "democracy tour" will be Greece.