Foreign interference: a threat to democratic security in Europe

Recommendation 2292 (2025)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 8 April 2025 (12th and 13th sittings) (see Doc. 16131, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur: Ms Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica). Text adopted by the Assembly on 8 April 2025 (13th sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring to its Resolution 2593 (2025) “Foreign interference: a threat to democratic security in Europe” underscores that intentional, covert and manipulative interference by foreign powers or their proxies is a continued threat to the core pillars of democratic security shared by the member States of the Council of Europe.

2. Such interference seeks to undermine electoral processes, erode public trust in democratic institutions and national unity and distort political decision making. The most glaring example of this threat is the escalation in hostile interference originating from the Russian Federation since the beginning of its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, which the Assembly firmly condemns.

3. The Assembly stresses that a co-ordinated and comprehensive response is required to counter the threat of foreign interference effectively, and advocates for closer collaboration with the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international organisations.

4. In addition, the Assembly emphasises that free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democratic societies. Independent and transparent electoral processes are necessary for both citizens’ trust in public institutions and for the competitiveness of the electoral environment. The Assembly expresses its serious concern that foreign interference operations, through the manipulation of information and voter sentiment, pose a continuing threat in electoral matters to the freedom of voters to form an opinion and to equality of opportunity for candidates and parties.

5. The Assembly, recalling the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy, acknowledges the Committee of Ministers’ ongoing efforts to strengthen democratic resilience and address democratic backsliding, including its work on countering misinformation and disinformation, preventing algorithmic manipulation and reinforcing electoral integrity. It commends the initiative of the Secretary General to develop a new democratic pact to address democratic backsliding, enhance citizen engagement and adapt democratic models to contemporary challenges.

6. In light of the increasing sophistication of multiform foreign interference tactics in the digital sphere, the Assembly welcomes the Council of Europe Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law (CETS No. 225, the Vilnius Convention) as an essential tool to promote transparency, accountability and safeguards against artificial intelligence-driven manipulation and disinformation.

7. In view of the role played by the Council of Europe in ensuring democratic security, the Assembly asks the Committee of Ministers to:

7.1 develop and enhance tools for countering foreign interference that promote a whole-of-society approach, enhance resilience, reinforce public trust and safeguard institutional integrity;

7.2 consider the feasibility of developing a broad-based, non-binding operational definition of foreign interference to enhance European co-ordination and policy alignment, as well as improving clarity on legitimate influence activities.