Workshop: How to Secure Elections from Foreign Interference?

Foreign interference in democratic processes has become a growing concern in recent years. Malign foreign state and non-state actors employ intricate strategies to manipulate elections including financial incentives, information manipulation, and cyber interventions. In the case of the Czech Republic, Russia and China pose the biggest threat. With the upcoming 2024 European elections, an uptick in interference attempts is anticipated.

In November, the Association for International Affairs (AMO) organized a workshop focused on China and Russia’s foreign electoral interference activities. The participants included European election candidates, government representatives and members of the civil society.

Opening remarks were delivered by H.E. Matt Field, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic. In the first part of the program, AMO Research Fellows Kara Němečková and Nikoleta Nemečkayová presented the findings of a study on foreign interference in democratic processes, commissioned by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. Using case studies, the analysts delved into strategies China and Russia use to meddle in democratic processes abroad. Their briefing was followed by a discussion where participants shared their own experiences with electoral campaign attacks that they encountered in their professional capacity. 

In the second part of the program, led by Filip Šebok, a Research Fellow at AMO, the participants were divided into small groups. They were assigned a fictional politician and their task was to devise strategies to protect the fictional politicians from sophisticated operations carried out by Russia and China. 

The aim of the workshop was to increase the awareness of the goals and methods of foreign electoral interference among publicly active individuals and identify appropriate tools to prevent foreign attempts to influence elections. The participants engaged in a lively discussion which allowed them to explore the debated issue from various perspectives and come up with innovative solutions to attempts at electoral intervention.