Albright Stage | From Brussels to the Newsroom: Resilience Without Borders

Democratic resilience against foreign information manipulation, hybrid threats and AI-driven content is tested simultaneously across continents and across institutions. The EU's institutional and regulatory architecture for platforms and disinformation, the independent media sector's defence of the information space, and the lived experience of democracies under sustained authoritarian pressure — including those navigating their own distinct legislative paths — offer distinct tests of what works — and where the institutions tasked with holding the line are straining under pressure. Bringing these perspectives into one room is also a test of whether lessons actually travel across borders, or whether like-minded democracies continue to respond to a shared threat in isolation. - Where is cooperation between like-minded democracies actually emerging — and what role do independent media and quality journalism play in sustaining it against platform power, synthetic content and declining public trust? - What does the EU's institutional and regulatory response offer democracies facing authoritarian information interference, and how do European and global newsrooms — working within different regulatory contexts — translate that architecture into editorial practice? Thomas Leysen, Chairman Mediahuis Eugene Slavnyi, Editor-in-Chief and News Director UNITED24 Media Věra Jourová, Member of the GLOBSEC Advisory Board, GLOBSEC Morgan McSweeney, Former Downing Street Chief of Staff Dritan Nesho, Chief Executive Officer HarrisX Zoltán Varga, Chairman & CEO Central Médiacsoport