Lukas Wank moderated the recent online discussion with Michael Zinkanell and Sofia Maria Satanakis, which was organised in cooperation with the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy (AIES). Together they debated the security implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. The most relevant topics included the relationship between the European Union and NATO and the emerging challenges of cybersecurity and disinformation campaigns.
Sofia Maria Satanakis started by pointing out that “2020 proved to be crucial both for the EU and NATO due to the Covid-19 outbreak … which is expected to have a negative impact on the national defence budgets.” She continued with arguing that despite these challenges, “there is a deepening in the cooperation between the EU and NATO … the US have increased their contributions to NATO”, which symbolises that the US is still committed to NATO.
Michael Zinkanell explained that disinformation “is the intentional creation and spread of verifiable misleading information”, in order to deceive and disrupt societies and political systems. During the Covid-19 crisis the amount and intensity of disinformation rose to an unprecedented level, which confronts the EU and its member states with new challenges.
