The Atlantic Council of the United States and the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction invite you to participate in a private, in-person workshop in Sofia, Bulgaria on “Countering Russian Efforts to Undermine Nonproliferation in Eastern Europe” on Monday, April 29 and Tuesday, April 30 from 9:00am – 1:00pm EET.
The workshops in Sofia will convene a cross-sectoral group of participants from government agencies, civil society organizations, the private sector, and others for a hypothetical scenario exercise and discussions about Russia’s malign information influence activities in Bulgaria. Our goal is to facilitate connections and enhance the community of practice to safeguard nonproliferation norms against Russian influence. To promote frank discussions, the workshops will be held under the Chatham House Rule; any information shared may be used by participants, but it cannot be attributed to individual attendees. The workshops will be conducted in English.
Russia has intensified the use of malign information influence activities around chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons in Europe and abroad to undermine European security. Russia’s malign information influence activities include false claims that U.S. cooperative nonproliferation efforts are a front for developing biological weapons and that the United States and Ukraine are undertaking CBRN weapons development. Through its malign information influence activities, Russia has circulated false narratives that attack transatlantic cooperation meant to encourage nonproliferation norms.
The Atlantic Council will leverage the key takeaways from these workshops to create a strategic framework for designing and implementing successful strategies to counter Russian malign information influence activities. To promote frank discussions, the workshops will be held under the Chatham House Rule; any information shared may be used by participants, but it cannot be attributed to individual attendees. The workshops will be conducted in English.
We would appreciate your participation in one of these important discussions. Even if your area of expertise is outside of the parameters of our conversation, we are keen to have your voice in the room to broaden the community of interest.
In order to register for this event, participants must submit proper identification in accordance with U.S. government regulations. This information will only be used for internal verification purposes and not be shared.
The Atlantic Council of the United States is a U.S.-based nonpartisan organization that seeks to galvanize U.S. leadership and engagement in the world, in partnership with allies and partners, to shape solutions to global challenges. The Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, shapes and influences the debate on the greatest security challenges facing the North Atlantic Alliance and its key partners.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction works to prevent proliferator states and terrorist groups from developing or acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and delivery systems that could threaten the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests abroad.
The Transatlantic Security Initiative, in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, shapes and influences the debate on the greatest security challenges facing the North Atlantic Alliance and its key partners.