U.S. Official in Skopje, Discussing Fight Against Anti-West Disinformation

The president of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, and the special envoy and coordinator of U.S. Department of State's Global Engagement Center, James Rubin (BETAPHOTO/CABINET OF THE PRESIDENT OF NORTH MACEDONIA)

The president of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, and the special envoy and coordinator of U.S. Department of State's Global Engagement Center, James Rubin, met in Skopje on April 12 and discussed the joint fight against disinformation.

 
According to the statement of President Pendarovski’s office, they discussed joint efforts and ways to fight disinformation and its influence on the development of democratic processes at the global level and on national security.

 
Pendarovski assessed that disinformation had the potential to influence major political and civil processes, both in North Macedonia and the world, and that this made it one of the priority threats to the national security of many countries. Therefore, he emphasized, it is necessary to constantly invest into the resources and skills for recognizing and exposing it, and into creating national strategies for extensive responses to disinformation.

 
Rubin arrived in Skopje on April 11, where he discussed disinformation with North Macedonian officials. After these meetings, he stated that disinformation generated by Russia was the main source of threat to this part of the world and that Serbia was one of the main bases from which Russian disinformation was spread in the region.