While individual European countries have held elections in recent years since the Russian campaign on the US election in 2016, the EU is gearing up for its first election since 2014. According to one European expert, “since then [2016], we have tested national systems for the security environment as we now know it.” But the EU system, however, “hasn’t been tested in this new security environment.” This EU election will see 27 countries voting in a new European Parliament (and thus new top officials) could be uniquely vulnerable to manipulation. “Give the dispersed nature and comparatively long duration of the European Parliament elections, they present a tempting target for malicious actors,” argued the European Commissioner for Security. “Everybody needs to take responsibility for this — a system is only as secure as the weakest link in the chain.” Possible disinformation campaigns, cybersecurity breaches, and digital tampering of votes could compromise any stage of the voting process and undermine the EU’s functioning in the short or even long term.
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