The intensity and danger of hybrid threats, as well as disinformation, has been increasing in recent years, while Russia and China are considered the main actors of these threats, according to experts and diplomat at the recent "Balkan Disinfo 2025" conference, which is being held in Pristina.
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Finnish diplomat Tapio Pysalo said that these two countries are cooperating to spread disinformation, also using artificial intelligence.
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"The intensity and dangerousness of hybrid threats has been increasing in recent years, especially considering Russia and the People's Republic of China as the main threat actors. Their objective above all is to undermine our partnerships by sowing divisions within the EU and NATO, by hindering NATO enlargement, especially the EU in the Western Balkans, by undermining democratic institutions including the credibility of elections, by undermining public trust and by polarizing our societies, thereby affecting the stability of our society."
"The goal is to sow uncertainty, fear, undermining public trust and weakening the support we give to Ukraine. I believe that all of this can also be applied to disinformation as a general trend, and in disinformation we see that both China and Russia have escalated their operations in Europe and the US. Russia has invested heavily in disinformation," he said.
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Consultant specializing in new challenges to election integrity, Ben Graham, emphasized that in the United Kingdom, where he comes from, there is a strengthening of pro-Russian narratives from networks of the People's Republic of China.
But, he added that the numerous electoral processes that marked the past year have created some positive aspects for combating disinformation more effectively [but he emphasizes also that] we must also look at the psychological aspects of why people believe this disinformation and how they can convince people. I think we need to work more eloquently in the opposition".
"We see a greater strategic alignment with our adversaries, we see an increase or strengthening of pro-Russian narratives from the networks of the People's Republic of China, and it is important that we work together to counter them."
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Researcher and digital intelligence expert, especially on manipulation campaigns and foreign information influence, Benjamin Schultz from the United States, stated that due to executive orders received from the new American presidency, an attack on researchers is taking place.
According to him, the US has become a hyper-polarized society.
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