Will 2026 bring peace and justice for Ukraine? To explore this together, join our monthly #DemocracyDrinks for an exchange with Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Zayats, Head of the Liaison Office of the Council of Europe to the European Union and former foreign policy adviser to the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine. 

Day: Tuesday 17 February 17:00-19:00
Venue: tba in confirmation email
Fee: please support Defend Democracy's work

On 4 February, Defend Democracy had the honour to address 25 elected European politicians from across the political spectrum to help frame the start of their fellowship 'The Securitisation of EU's Economic Power.'

"The narrative 'guns or butter' paints a false dichotomy. In the era of hybrid warfare, we must invest in democratic institutions, civil preparedness and societal resilience. For that we must also invest in our social contract." - Stollmeyer

This month, Defend Democracy was invited by the Dutch government to discuss the role of civil society in building societal resilience against foreign interference.

"Whole-of-society preparedness and resilience is key. But it doesn't come for free."

Ahead of the masterclass 'International resilience lessons', Defend Democracy was interviewed by WeerbaarNL, the Dutch knowledge platform for preparedness and resilience.

"Europe turn the tide if we not only treat symptoms, but also find structural solutions to some of the key causes. That requires political will and courage."

Defend Democracy joined dozens of organisations in calling on the European institutions and member states to reject the deletion of the transparency safeguard for high-risk AI systems that is proposed in the AI Omnibus.

This safeguard ensures that providers of AI systems cannot circumvent the core obligations of the AI Act.

Defend Democracy joined many organisations in warning the European Commission that its plans for relaxing lawmaking standards will undermine democracy.

We call for the protection of evidence-based, transparent, participatory lawmaking in the Better Regulation revision.

While EUrope is regulating digital platforms and increasing its tech sovereignty, here is a helpful toolbox to enhance your online reading skills and strategies in the face of bots, lies, clickbait, AI slop and information overload. 

Our favourite: strategic ignoring ;-)