Regional FIMI patterns — The tactics used across the Balkans vary significantly from country to country. The session walks through specific cases showing how information manipulation techniques adapt to local media ecosystems and political fault lines. Active actors and their objectives — Foreign and domestic actors operate across the region with distinct goals, from undermining EU accession processes to exploiting ethnic and historical grievances. We'll map who is active and what they're working toward. Channels and detection — FIMI spreads through a specific mix of platforms and outlets in the Balkans. The session covers where it moves and what practical detection looks like in a low-resource, high-noise information environment. Building resilience — What does genuine resilience look like for institutions, media, and society across the region? The session closes with a practical assessment of what defenders can realistically do.

Balkans FIMI: Actors & Narratives

About the webinar

The Balkans remain one of Europe's most contested information environments — and one of the least examined. Unresolved historical grievances, ethnic fault lines, fragile media ecosystems, and active EU accession processes create sustained vulnerabilities to foreign information manipulation, and tactics tested here frequently resurface elsewhere in Europe months later. This session brings together practitioners working directly on the region to map what FIMI looks like on the ground: which actors are active, how narratives move, and what defenders can realistically do about it.

What we'll cover

Regional FIMI patterns — The tactics used across the Balkans vary significantly from country to country. The session walks through specific cases showing how information manipulation techniques adapt to local media ecosystems and political fault lines.
Active actors and their objectives — Foreign and domestic actors operate across the region with distinct goals, from undermining EU accession processes to exploiting ethnic and historical grievances. We'll map who is active and what they're working toward.
Channels and detection — FIMI spreads through a specific mix of platforms and outlets in the Balkans. The session covers where it moves and what practical detection looks like in a low-resource, high-noise information environment.
Building resilience — What does genuine resilience look like for institutions, media, and society across the region? The session closes with a practical assessment of what defenders can realistically do.

Meet our speakers

Gloria Trifonova is an Analyst on the Democracy Shield Task Force at the Center for the Study of Democracy, where she researches information integrity and countering foreign influence, with a particular focus on anti-NATO information manipulation and how local networks amplify foreign narratives across the region.

Andréas C. Hatzidiakos, PhD, is Co-Director of OPEWI – Europe's War Institute and a Research Fellow at ELIAMEP. He is also a senior expert and academic advisor for the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation. He previously served in France's Counter-Terrorism Division at the European External Action Service (2019–2024).

Eleni Kapsokoli is an Appointed Lecturer in Strategic Studies at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Her PhD examined the strategic use of cyberspace by Al Qaeda and ISIS, and she is a non-resident fellow at Virginia Tech's Center for European & Transatlantic Studies.

Matei Vrabie is Program Manager at Funky Citizens, working at the intersection of journalism and research on the information environment, with a focus on coordinated behaviour and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.

Reserve your seat to see how FIMI operates across the Balkans — and what an effective response looks like.