The 160th plenary of the Committee of the Regions overwhelmingly approved the opinion on the Defence of Democracy Package drafted by Pécs city councillor, and EA group CIVEX coordinator József Kóbor.
In Mr Kóbor's words, this initiative is important to tackle "contemporary challenges such as media freedom, disinformation, transparency in political advertising, as well as citizen participation". During the presentation of the text, Mr Kóbor highlighted how important it is that EU institutions involve local and regional authorities (LRAs) in providing their knowledge on the fight for the protection of electoral and democratic processes, given their role in promoting citizen participation and that they are "the eyes and ears on the ground".
Mr Kóbor launched a message of hope by reminding everyone of how commitment to democratic values "is a common denominator we can agree upon". However, he concluded his closing remarks by launching a stark warning: "We will see the violations of our democratic principles more and more clearly as we approach the elections", Kóbor said.