The European Parliament called for the abandonment of Russian and Chinese software

The European Parliament issued a statement on the need for a coordinated strategy to increase the resilience of the European Union to foreign interference in European elections, including the need to exclude software from Russian and Chinese companies. About it informs EP press office

According to MPs, foreign interference and disinformation will continue and become more sophisticated in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June 2024.

The document says that it is necessary to protect critical infrastructure, prevent interference in electoral processes and the financing of political activities by foreign entities.

According to the press service of the Parliament, it follows from the report that special attention should be paid to “Russian and Chinese interference in the EU, in countries applying for EU accession, including the Western Balkans, and the countries of the global South.”

The European Parliament is concerned about economic dependence and the risk of espionage due to the fact that foreign companies have influence on critical infrastructure. Thus, deputies recommend banning TikTok at all levels of government and in EU institutions. They also call on the Council and the European Commission to exclude equipment and software from manufacturers in a number of countries, including China and Russia. As the press service of the parliament clarifies, we are talking about the Russian companies Kaspersky Lab and NtechLab, as well as the Chinese ByteDance HuaweiZTE, Nuctech.