There is no Pax Europaea without a safe, resilient and sovereign information ecosystem

It's been obvious for a while, but it should be crystal clear now: the EU can't keep relying on U.S. support for its strategic sectors.

I started my career in journalism in the early 2000s, not long after the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was this brief, absurdly hopeful period in Central and Eastern Europe, and not only because I was in my 20s and had no idea yet what a herniated disc was. History was over, liberal democracy had won and independent media was to be its sentinel. The U.S. government and its various agencies were actually packing up and leaving CEE, convinced their work was done. Say 1995-2005, a total brat of a decade.

As great as it was to experience this brief moment of optimism it was painful to watch it fade away.

Increasingly authoritarian actors started muscling their way back into controlling public discourse. Add big tech's disruption to the mix, and you can see how the whole news media sector started wobbling. Russia went back to its expansionist playbook…