Role of Youth in Countering Foreign Interference in State Politics Discussed in Belgorod

A scientific and practical conference “Actual Problems of Countering the Ideology of Extremism and Terrorism in the Youth Environment” was held in Belgorod. The key issue of the event was the role of youth in counteracting foreign interference in the political processes of the state. The report on this topic was presented online by Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations (IPA CIS IIMDD) Ivan Mushket.

Using the examples of the presidential elections in Russia, Ivan Mushket described cases of foreign interference in the internal affairs of the state.

During the election campaign, there were actions that hindered the free will of citizens and threatened their life and health. In Belgorod region, voters, members of commissions, observers, including those from IPA CIS monitoring group, came under fire. In a number of regions, attempts of arson, damage ballot boxes and ect. took places. Cyberattacks on Internet resources of start bodies and election administration bodies numbered in the tens of thousands.

Unfortunately, in a number of cases the perpetrators of these actions were young people, who succumbed to the propaganda of foreign agents of influence. Ivan Mushket noted that peers, who clearly realize the danger of foreign interference in political processes, can counteract this.

IPA CIS carries out large-scale activities on legal education and improvement of legal culture of the Commonwealth youth. Discussion club “Tavricheskiy” works, training courses on international observation of elections and referendums are prepared, Olympiads for students are organized.

The organizers of this conference were the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, authorities and law enforcement bodies of the Belgorod region, the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly and the Belgorod State Technological University named after V.G. Shukhov.