(12.5.2015) The Canadian Ambassador to Latvia, Mr. Alain Hausser, and the Latvian State Secretary for Defence, Mr. Janis Sarts, jointly opened a revolutionary NATO training programme in Riga on 8th May, teaching advanced counter-propaganda techniques designed to help member states assess and counter Russia’s propaganda in Eastern Europe.

Twenty intelligence analysts, psychologists, and military and defence personnel from across NATO countries will be trained in what is known as Target Audience Analysis, a scientific application developed by the UK based Behavioural Dynamics Institute, that involves a comprehensive study of audience groups and forms the basis for interventions aimed at reinforcing or changing attitudes and behaviour. Significantly, the methodology increases the resilience of susceptible audiences and enables them to withstand foreign propaganda effects.