Representatives of the British and Ukrainian embassies in BiH warned on Friday in Sarajevo about the influence of Russian propaganda in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans at the conference titled "Disinformation and Malign Foreign Influence" organized by the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network - BIRN BiH.

Chargé d'affaires of the British Embassy in BiH, Neil Kavanagh, said that such events further indicate Russia's “toxic” use of disinformation and lies, but also contribute to the exchange of experiences from the conflict in Ukraine and the one that happened in Bosnia, in the 1990s.

He pointed out that the world is witnessing the generational struggle of people in Ukraine and beyond because the world knows what is at stake – freedom, prosperity and security of this and future generations.

Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Ukraine in Bosnia, Yaroslav Simonov, stated that this is a very important topic for Ukraine and the whole world, especially for this region because the spread of misinformation, false narratives and perceptions can affect European and other integrations.

He assessed the conference as very important because Russian propaganda is trying to spread throughout these areas by announcing the launch of certain media channels.

Simonov added that Russia is not giving up on the genocide of the Ukrainian people and the destruction of Ukraine as an independent European state, and thanked all allies who supported them during these two years of war.

BIRN BiH Executive Director Denis Dzidic emphasized that the goal of the conference was to point out the disinformation narratives that Russia is spreading in the Balkans and especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it is becoming an increasingly dangerous actor.

Ukrainian journalists, who travelled to Sarajevo to share their experiences reporting on the war, discussed how to fight the threat of Russian disinformation and to hear about the Russian influence in the Western Balkans.