Agreement between regulators

Declaration on Cooperation and Mutual Support concluded in Warsaw, Poland, on 4 October 2023 between the following media regulatory authorities of Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Signatories’:

• Nacionālā elektronisko plašsaziņas līdzekļu padome [National Electronic Mass Media Council], Republic of Latvia,
• Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos komisija [Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania], Republic of Lithuania,
• Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji [National Broadcasting Council], Republic of Poland,
• Consiliul National al Audiovizualului [National Audiovisual Council], Romania,
• Національна рада України з питань телебачення і радіомовлення [National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting], Ukraine.

The war of Russia against Ukraine and Russia’s imperial ambitions have contributed to a change in the geopolitical situation across Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. The dynamic development of technology in the area of digital communication tools has opened up the media markets to a wide range of possibilities in terms of access to information, both in the process of content creation and its reception.

As a result, space has been created for the unlimited dissemination of unverified messages that create a false image of the world, differentiate and antagonise social groups and, as a consequence, generate distrust both in public institutions and society itself. Mechanisms have been set in motion that pose a real threat to informational security, strategic security and sovereignty of the signatory States.

In view of the above threats, the representatives of the media market regulatory authorities of countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine declare that they will initiate and implement, in the scope of their competences, joint programme activities to educate and protect their citizens from the spread of disinformation¹ and multidimensional propaganda.

In order to:

• protect the sovereignty and good name of States and the inviolability of their borders;
• protect the freedom of speech, support responsibility for informing the public, protect the journalists and media order in accordance with territorial jurisdiction and European legal framework;
• safeguarding citizens' right to accurate and reliable information as an integral component of freedom of expression;
• safeguarding the independence of media regulatory authorities;
• educating citizens about disinformation and propaganda by supporting the inclusion of media literacy as a mandatory discipline in schools;

and:

• respecting Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive),

The Signatories declare their mutual support for measures in the field of activities of analysing and contain the spread of multidimensional disinformation, in particular but not only Russian propaganda, at national, regional and the international level. Furthermore, the Signatories of this Declaration commit to collaborate in order to have common responses based on informed decisions, while also informing European partners. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the capacity to counter disinformation and information warfare, not only in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic States. Our joint action must be beneficial for the entire Europe, with direct effects in supporting accurate information, protecting journalists and freedom of expression, without it being used in bad faith to undermine our democracies.

Upholding the rights of the citizens of their countries to reliable information and to freedom of expression and opinion, as reaffirmed in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms signed in Rome on 4 November 1950, as subsequently amended by Protocols Nos. 3, 5 and 8, and supplemented by Protocol No. 2, the undersigned declare that they will initiate actions to counter the spread of multidimensional disinformation at national, regional and international levels. The Signatories declare that they will initiate activities to jointly educate citizens to identify, respond to, and prevent disinformation, as well as to establish cooperation between existing European and national fact-checking platforms, if possible, as an element of responding to the threats not only posed by Russian propaganda and multidimensional disinformation and disinformation harmful to the raison d'état of the Signatories, but also to share and verify information disseminated within their countries.

The Signatories will also make joint efforts to develop unified mechanisms for media regulation in the Signatories’ countries, which facilitate the preparation and implementation of joint assessments and positions on countering disinformation and the elaboration of new legal democratic approaches and initiatives within national and international law under real threats and security challenges in the information sphere of European countries.

The Signatories pledge their support for actions against disinformation of any kind, but mostly the one that might threat our democracies and European path. The Signatories will set up a secretariat for the implementation of the Declaration in order to exchange information and coordinate agreements.

The Signatories shall preliminarily agree, through mutual consultation, on common activities arising from this Declaration.

The Declaration is concluded for an indefinite period, with the possibility of withdrawal at any time with prior notification to all Signatories.

The Declaration will enter into force on the date of signature.

Prepared in English in Warsaw, Poland, in five identical copies on 4 October 2023.