The international conference “Defending Democracy: The Battlefield of Truth”, held in Skopje from October 8 – 10, 2025, explored disinformation, propaganda, and hybrid warfare as direct threats to democratic processes, undermining media freedom, weakening defense and security, and endangering election integrity.

Over the course of three days, international partners and guests — including journalists, civil society leaders, policymakers, diplomats, and academics from Europe, the Western Balkans, Ukraine, and the United States — exchanged experiences and strategies on election integrity, democratic efforts around the world, and demonstrated solidarity and support for Ukraine.

On the first day of the program, October 8, an opening panel was held titled “Ukraine’s Struggle –Europe’s Future, Our Common Reality: Lessons and Next Steps”.

The panel addressed questions about the lessons learned from the Russian aggression against Ukraine and what follows further — what the future of Europe is, the urgency to act and defend democracy.

Key messages from participants:

“We must understand that the war in Ukraine doesn’t stop at the borders of Ukraine, this is hybrid warfare, and that means that these borders are porous. And the war and cyber-attacks go well beyond our societies. The attempts to manipulate through social media and through other means, what is in the minds and hearts of all of us, not just those in Ukraine, is very systematic, pervasive, and damaging. We need to understand that the war started, the war is here”, Roger Casale, former MP, Founder and Coordinator, Westminster Alliance for Ukraine, United Kingdom.

“It is time to dethrone Russia, to free ourselves ideologically from its influence, and to give Ukraine a chance to defend itself in this war — with support, weapons, and everything it needs. At the same time, we must also look to the future — to rebuild Ukraine, and on the other hand, to learn from it, both militarily and civically”,
stated Wolfgang Ressmann, President of the New European People’s Forum and Head of Media Dialogue, Germany.

“It is extremely important to preserve the cultural heritage in Ukraine, but also to broadcast the cultural events of Ukrainians abroad. Conferences, events, and concerts are needed. We have seen what the war is doing to Ukraine. It is also important to work on preserving nature and the environment. Our support should be for Ukraine with specific projects in all these areas. We already have such projects in Austria and Germany. It is very important to fight disinformation as well. German institutions should contribute to hybrid warfare as well as disinformation. Media that report on hybrid warfare and disinformation should be supported”, said Gudrun Steinacker, Vice President of the Southeast European Association, Germany, former Ambassador.

“We understand what support we need to provide to Ukraine. One thing I must say, extraordinary times require an extraordinary response. The world is changing and there are changes in the international order. We must be united, we must support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggression, and ensure that there is never a repeated attack by the Russians,” said Emanuele Erichielo, Deputy Director of the Centro Studi Internazionali, Italy.

“This nation is united, and we can actually continue to fight, and Russia is really very precisely examining what the divisions are in Ukrainian society. One of them is simply missing, the divisions among those who had to flee. So many people think that actually they can’t reintegrate here, or that many of those who have been living abroad for a long time, even before the full-scale invasion, think the country has made no progress in the fight against corruption, which is definitely not true”, said Catherine Pavlova, Civic Education and Democracy Expert, CRISP – Germany/Ukraine.

“If we have to underline one word, it is ‘truth’. Defending democracy is defending the truth, and as a journalist, one of my goals, and that of all EU representatives, must be ‘facts, only facts.’ Who is lying – Russia! Who is being attacked – Ukraine!”, said Olivier Védrine, Political Scientist and Analyst, Jean Monnet Association – France.

“If we speak about the future of Europe in the context of culture, it means that we need to create a European public space — a shared sense of belonging to Europe. We should think about safe spaces, both online and offline, spaces where we can talk about how we want to live together”, said Friso Wiersum – Communications Manager, European Cultural Foundation – Netherlands.

“The Ukrainians are fighting for themselves, for Europe, and for the world. The Hungarian government is developing a hostile attitude toward Ukraine. Here I must underline that this is the Hungarian government, not the people. Viktor Orbán is trying to block Ukraine’s European future, ONLY FOR SELFISH REASONS – IT IS ECONOMIC CHAUVINISM. On the other hand, his anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is also anti-EU rhetoric. His language is identical to Russian propaganda. I hope that in the future Orbán will be without power. Unfortunately, illiberal policies are spreading in Europe and the world. We must not allow this. We must fight everywhere. We must follow Ukraine’s example and fight for democracy”, said István Hegedűs, Chair of the Hungarian Europe Society, Political Scientist and former MP.

“We started with urgent measures to support Ukraine, but now we also need to focus on reconstruction and economic assistance to Ukraine. When we talk about Ukraine’s defense capabilities, we need to think about how to support Ukrainians more effectively and in the long term. We understand what is happening, but the general public does not clearly understand what is happening in Ukraine, they think Ukraine is losing the war, that it should make concessions. But we need to present things to them with facts and credible information. By helping Ukraine, we are also helping ourselves. The Coalition’s challenge is to continue supporting Ukraine, but also to show Russia that we are capable of defending ourselves”, said Michael Clayforth Carr, Strategic Advisor on Security and International Business.

“If we lose the civic space, we will lose democracy. Defense is not only about tanks and weapons — it is also about raising our voices. Ukraine is fighting for its own freedom, but at the same time, for ours as well”, said Eglė Celiešiėnė from the Lithuanian College of Democracy.

“Seven, eight years there has been a huge gap between evidence and policy. We are in a geopolitical political phase where we must wake up. Otherwise, things will be chaotic. On the one hand, we have an opportunity, because it is an opportunity to have Trump on the other side of the ocean, and to be able to wake up and decide what we can do…”, said Walter Quattrociocchi, Full Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, leading the Center for Data Science and Complexity for Society (CDCS).

The moderator of the international panel was Xhabir Deralla, President, CIVIL – Center for Freedom.

Biljana Jordanovska

Translated by: N. Cvetkovska