The European Democracy Shield is a suite of tools designed to counter Russian and Belarusian disinformation. But what instruments do we actually have at our disposal to defend ourselves effectively against the cognitive war that Russia is waging against Poland and the European Union?
Cognitive warfare—aimed at shaping attitudes and behaviours at both the individual and societal levels—is officially recognised in Russia as an element of warfare. The Kremlin spends an estimated USD 2–4 billion annually on these efforts. This is not simply “ordinary” misinformation, but primarily the manipulation of political and economic processes.
With support from Belarus, Russia is conducting such a campaign against Poland and the EU. Its aims include deepening and fuelling social divisions, eroding trust in state institutions and the European Union more broadly, and undermining confidence in NATO. It also fuels anti-German and anti-Ukrainian sentiment. These and other actions are intended to create social chaos—chaos that Russia ultimately seeks to control.
According to the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025, Poland is one of the main targets in Europe for state-sponsored hacking groups, ranking third after Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Civic Coalition (KO) MEP Michał Wawrykiewicz stresses that these attacks will only intensify and will take the form not just of disinformation, but also cyberattacks and acts of sabotage. New tools and stronger efforts are therefore essential to counter these external threats.
One of the proposals aimed at strengthening this fight is the European Democracy Shield—a package of measures put forward by the European Commission to boost the EU’s resilience. The Shield will focus on three main areas: safeguarding the integrity of the information space; strengthening institutions, free and fair elections, and independent media; and increasing citizen engagement and societal resilience.
“The entire coordinated programme of the European Democracy Shield is intended not only to diagnose the problems and challenges we face every day in Europe, but also to propose solutions to stop what we are experiencing. In other words, we need to effectively counter disinformation and cyberattacks. We must foster civil society and educational initiatives, as well as promote a positive narrative that presents the truth over the manipulative disinformation narrative currently flooding Europe,” emphasises Michał Wawrykiewicz, who took part in the debate ‘Will the European Democracy Shield Protect Us?’ organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Poland and the European Commission Representation in Poland.
An important element of the European Democracy Shield will be the new European Centre for Democratic Resilience. Its role will be to pool the expertise and resources of the EU and its Member States in order to enhance their ability to anticipate, detect, and respond to threats.
An independent European network of information verifiers will also be established to improve fact-checking capacity across all official EU languages. Meanwhile, the European Digital Media Observatory will develop new, independent monitoring and situational-analysis capabilities, especially in relation to elections and crisis events.
“It is difficult to give a clear answer to whether the European Democracy Shield will be able to defend us. The mechanisms being introduced under this programme are, in many ways, a necessity. We must defend ourselves as effectively as possible against the threats and challenges we face,” says the KO MEP.
He also warns: “Poland lies on the eastern flank of the European Union, so it is obvious that operations conducted by services from authoritarian states such as Russia and Belarus are strongly felt here. I am speaking not only about disinformation and cyberattacks, but also about direct acts of sabotage and terrorism targeting critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, I fear these activities will continue to expand, and that we will have to confront them in an even more severe form than we do today.”
by ih, source: Newseria
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