Patriot center to be directly subordinated to Moldova's president

The Center for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation will be placed under the direct subordination of Moldova’s president. Fifty-six MPs today voted a draft law providing for this change, in the first reading. The document was harshly criticized by the parliamentary opposition, which demanded the dissolution of the center.

The document was presented in the parliament’s plenum by a law maker of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), Lilian Carp. He said that the current Center for Strategic Communication and Combating Disinformation would be renamed into the Center for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation and would focus its efforts on countering disinformation through prevention and public education, with the aim of reducing the impact of disinformation and preventing its emergence.

According to Carp, this change aims to enhance efficiency in coordinating public policies related to information security and combating disinformation, as well as better alignment between domestic and foreign policy, in accordance with the constitutional powers of the Moldovan president.

The MP also said that, following the legislative changes, the director of the Center would be appointed and dismissed directly by the head of state, without the involvement of Parliament, as the current legislation requires. At the same time, the document proposes establishing a new format for the Advisory Council of the Center for Strategic Communication and Countering Disinformation. Thus, the decisions of the Council will have a recommendatory nature.

Members of the council can be public dignitaries, representatives of the academic community, notable professionals, representatives of strategic and development partners, specialists or experts with notable activity in the field of public communication, security and defense, public administration and international relations. The quality of membership in the Council will be voluntary. The Council will offer proposals for improving the work of the Center and provide support in areas of competence.

The drafts also adjusts certain terms, such as “strategic communication,” “information manipulation actions,” and “foreign interference,” in accordance with definitions used in the European space. New definitions will also be included for such terms as “sensitive security information” and “societal resilience.”

Another provision aims to extend the term of the Strategic Communication Concept till December 31, 2030, in order to strengthen the national strategic framework and ensure institutional efficiency in the field of strategic communication and combating disinformation. The concept was approved for the period 2024-2028 and represents a public policy tool coming from the National Security Strategy, approved for the period 2024-2030.

For the draft to come into force, it must be voted on in the second reading too.