site.btaUS State Department Conference: Kremlin's Cognitive War "Aimed to Control Our Views"

Spreading disinformation and propaganda is an essential element of the Kremlin's hybrid war against the countries of the Black Sea region, including Bulgaria and Romania, Bulgarian Defence Minister Todor Tagarev told a conference in Sofia on Tuesday, as quoted by his ministry. Tagarev said: "This strategy represents cognitive warfare, with which Russia is trying to fulfill its geopolitical ambitions by manipulating public perceptions and fanning fears. The Kremlin's cognitive war is waged in many ways and aims to control our positions on political, economic, social and cultural matters and to destabilize the democratic systems of governance."

The conference focused on countering hybrid threats from unconventional weapons in the Black Sea region. It was organized by the Sofia-based Center for the Study of Democracy and the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the US Department of State.

Tagarev said: "I view hybrid threats as a combination of activities which are implemented constantly to reduce the capacity and the will to resist malicious influences. Russia continues to follow an aggressive strategy to destabilize the countries of the Black Sea region."

According to him, the Kremlin's strategy for disinformation in the Black Sea region makes use of Russia's economic influence. "Russia's disinformation activities are multilayered and rely on influencers. This kind of approach is intended to blur the distinction between governmental and non-governmental factors, and hence, to make it difficult to prove the Kremlin's involvement in concrete malicious acts."

The Bulgarian defence minister believes that security cooperation in the Black Sea region and strategic partnership in the EU and NATO "are of pivotal importance for aligning the efforts to deter and counter the Kremlin's hybrid strategy and reinforce our defence capabilities". He underscored the high significance of improving the interoperability of NATO forces and strengthening the bloc's positions in the Black Sea region through joint training and exercises, building a capacity for intelligence, surveillance, threat identification and early warning, and defence modernization.