News - South Africa, Pretoria, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria

On 18 February 2026, a seminar on “Countering Disinformation to Protect Local Democracy” was held in Cape Town. The event was organised by the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, together with the Embassies of Spain, Poland, Lithuania and Bulgaria, as well as Belgium (Flanders), under the Team Europe initiative.

The seminar took place in the context of the upcoming local elections in South Africa and rapid changes in the global and regional information environment, which pose immediate risks to the integrity of electoral processes and the stability of democratic institutions. The opening session and panel discussions featured prominent political figures from government, parliamentarians and journalists from leading media outlets. The keynote address was delivered by Mr Mosotho Moepya, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).

Bulgaria was represented by Mr Goran Georgiev, Senior Expert on Hybrid Threats and Disinformation at the Center for the Study of Democracy. His participation was supported by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Bulgarian expert highlighted the growing importance of addressing increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns and hybrid attacks, which intensify particularly during election periods or when countries undertake strategically significant steps in their development. Such operations seek to influence citizens and divert societies from their democratic path. He stressed the need for proactive measures and robust safeguards against attempts to undermine democratic processes, drawing on international experience that could also be applied in the South African context.

Particular attention was given to emerging threats associated with the use of artificial intelligence in election campaigns and attempts at external interference in electoral processes. The expert outlined the significant risks posed by algorithmic propaganda, particularly the exploitation of weaknesses in the design of widely used chatbots.

Mr Georgiev participated in a panel discussion alongside leading experts from South Africa, Belgium, Poland and Lithuania. The role of artificial intelligence in generating propaganda content and developing effective countermeasures was highlighted as one of the rapidly evolving areas of research in this field.

The seminar, now in its third consecutive year, continues to attract considerable interest from political, academic and media circles.