Fragile Europe

As global tensions rise and technological change reshapes the way people communicate, Europe’s democracies are becoming increasingly vulnerable to manipulation from abroad. Disinformation campaigns, covert funding, and cyber operations are being used to erode trust in institutions, polarise societies, and influence elections.

The new publication “Fragile Europe” investigates how foreign powers — including Russia, China, and other authoritarian or radical actors — attempt to shape Europe’s political landscape. Drawing on cross-border reporting, expert analysis, and digital forensics, it reveals the strategies used to exploit open societies and democratic freedoms for strategic gain.

In that way, “Fragile Europe” explores the pressures facing the continent’s democracies — from external interference to internal disunity. By connecting journalists, researchers, and policymakers across Europe it seeks not only to expose these challenges but to help strengthen democratic resilience and safeguard the integrity of Europe’s public sphere.

The panel discussion event focuses on the questions how democratic resilience can work and which measures are to be taken to foster liberal democracy in Europe. What are the sustainable counterstrategies to tackle antidemocratic and anti-European threats in the future?

17:30 Welcome and registrations

18:00 Welcome addresses

Speaker: Helga-Pattart-Drexler, NEOS Lab Managing Director, Vienna

Speaker: Miłosz Hodun, Board of Directors of the European Liberal Forum ELF), President of the Projekt: Polska Foundation, Brussels/Warsaw

18:10 Keynote

Speaker: Ralph Janik, International law expert, Author, Assistant professor at the Sigmund Freud University and Lecturer at the University of Vienna, the Andrássy University in Budapest, and the Bundeswehr University in Munich

18:25 Panel discussion

Speaker: Peter Bátor, Director at Inštitút Martina Filka, former advisor to two Presidents of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava

Speaker: Pavel Havlíček, Research Fellow at the Association for International Affairs (AMO), Prague

Speaker: Silvia Nadjivan, Senior Researcher, NEOS Lab, Vienna

Speaker: Malwina Talik, Research Associate at the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), freelance political analyst, Vienna

Moderator: Dietmar Pichler, Disinformation, subversion and foreign interference analyst, Disinfo Resilience Network Vienna, Editor at inved.eu, Vienna

19:30 Get together with refreshments

20:00 – End of the event