Author Archive

Sophie L. Vériter

Sophie L. Vériter is a PhD candidate in Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, focusing on misinformation and counter-misinformation policies in Europe. She has been a Europaeum Scholar and a Fellow at The Hague Program on International Cyber Security and the Global Governance Institute. From 2016 to 2018, she launched the ‘Young European Ambassadors’ initiative for the EU’s largest public diplomacy campaign (EU OPEN Neighbourhood). Sophie holds an MPhil in European Politics and Society from the University of Oxford and a BA from the Brussels School of Governance.

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In the aftermath of Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution of 2013-14, pro-Kremlin propaganda reached unprecedented levels. It started spreading confusion and distrust in Western institutions more easily and rapidly than ever before. Latvia, a small nation formerly part of the Soviet Union and home to a significant ethnic Russian minority, perceived an acute threat to European stability and convinced the entire European Union (EU) to take action. This article explores how Latvia managed to influence EU policy-making, providing valuable lessons on small state influence in the EU and important insights into the origins and framing of counter-disinformation policies in Europe. Background In 2015, Latvia persuaded other EU member states to create the East StratCom Task Force, an influential unit within the European …