An official ceremony marking the opening of the Strategic Communications Center known as NATO Center of Excellence was held in Riga today. Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand, and the US Senator John McCain were present at the event.
The Centre is meant to coordinate the NATO activities, and prepare informational and psychological operations of the Alliance.
The main objective of the Centre, as it was declared, is combating the so-called Russian propaganda.
Such NATO information offices are also present in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The capital city of Latvia Riga is to host a special conference on the strategic communications during the next two days. Representatives of the NATO countries, as well as Ukraine and Georgia plan to discuss the role of social media during the conflicts. Influence of the Mass Media on the society in the period of critical situations will be also discussed by the experts.
NATO worries over the fact that more than a quarter of Latvian residents have Russian roots and speak Russian, that leads to support of the Russian Mass Media they consider to be propagandistic.
Also read: NATO breaks treaty with Russia deploying troops in Latvia
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