The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, in collaboration with U.S. Embassy Vilnius, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Lithuanian NGO Civic Resilience Initiative (CRI), held Lithuania’s first Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) workshop on September 5-6. The workshop brought together experts, scholars, and civil society groups from the United States, Taiwan, Lithuania, and other EU countries to share their experiences in countering "Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference in Electoral Processes," with the aim of jointly strengthening democratic resilience.
Opening remarks were delivered by U.S. Ambassador Kara McDonald, Taiwan's Representative to Lithuania Constance Wang, Lithuanian Vice Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilūnas, and CRI co-founder Tomas Kazulėnas. The event attracted over 100 participants, including Lithuanian government officials from various ministries, parliament, think tanks, NGOs, media, and members of diplomatic corps in Lithuania.
Lithuanian Vice Foreign Minister Egidijus Meilūnas in his speech underlined, that “the contrary to popular misconceptions, disinformation has nothing to do with freedom of speech. In fact, blatant lies undermine freedom of speech and harm our societies. The democratic world must take decisive action at both national and international levels”.
In her speech, Ambassador McDonald emphasized the critical need to counter disinformation to protect our democratic institutions. She praised the resilience of Lithuania and Taiwan and their dedication to democratic values. Highlighting the importance of international cooperation, she called for strong partnerships to safeguard democracy and counter malign actors as we build a future where truth and democracy prevail.
Representative Wang highlighted the significance of 2024, when over 60 countries will hold elections. She underscored Taiwan’s position at the forefront of countering authoritarianism and disinformation, stressed the importance of collaboration between Taiwan’s public and private sectors in building resilience against such challenges. She also expressed her hope that the workshop would serve as a platform for democratic partners to exchange expertise and collectively strengthen their societies.
“When Russia invaded Ukraine, CRI recognized the challenges disinformation posed for democracies worldwide and started focusing on media literacy and ways to identify and counter fake news. Our team strongly believes that only knowledge, digital resilience and ability to expose disinformation will help the societies remain democratic in the long-term.
Therefore, the first GCTF Workshop in Lithuania on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference in Electoral Processes is a very timely event - parliamentary elections in Lithuania are just around the corner.” - Tomas Kazulėnas.
Launched in 2015 as a joint (U.S.-Taiwan) initiative, with Japan, Australia, and Canada later becoming full partners, GCTF has held nearly 80 workshops on topics including cybersecurity, public health, humanitarian assistance, and media literacy. Since 2021, GCTF franchise capacity-building workshops have been organized in likeminded countries around the world, covering topics such as economic and societal resilience and combating disinformation.
