In Their Own Words: Capturing Stakeholders’ Views on How to Strengthen the EEAS FIMI Framework

The paper explores current conceptual and operational challenges and needs related to unpacking and countering incidents of Foreign Information and Manipulation Interference, also known as FIMI, deployed by Russian and China in European Union (EU) and Partner Countries (PCs). The paper presents the results from 21 semi-structured interviews with policy and academic experts and stakeholders of FIMI in EU and PCs. Through coding trees, the paper generates themes and concepts regarding: (i) current conceptual gaps in FIMI Framework proposed by the European External Action Service’s 1st and 2nd reports, (ii) measures to adapting to the fast-evolving nature of Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs), and (iii) trade-offs between external defence and domestic censorship. The study informs the FIMI scholarship on potential conceptual and operational upgrades by the Community of Defenders in EU and PCs against Russian and Chinese FIMI, as well as feeds into the policy armoury of EU.