The Connecting EU panel ‘Europe’s democratic compass: Can trust and resilience be restored?’ explored declining trust in European democracy. What could bring Europeans closer together and convince them that the European democratic model, while not perfect, still delivers? What can European institutions, governments and civil society do to make democracy more resilient? Here are the views of our panellists, drawn from their short interviews with our media partner New Eastern Europe and from the panel discussion.

Zsófia Fülöp, journalist and fact-checker at Lakmusz.hu

As a journalist and fact-checker, I think we have to talk to people. We have to encourage conversation and critical thinking because, when we have a conversation, it is often about really abstract ideas and not about real-life challenges, problems or even successes. What we need to do is empower people and teach them how to consume media, how to question, how to be skeptical and how to be more critical if they encounter something in the news or on social media. We have to organise a lot of talks and interactive sessions, and really focus on the most targeted and vulnerable groups. This means not just people in big cities, but also those in rural areas. We need to talk to senior citizens and to those who are not privileged enough.

Alexandra Karppi, journalist and researcher at King’s College London, co-host of the Talk Eastern Europe podcast

In 2026, we have to be open to unlikely partnerships and unlikely heroes. The digital revolution is underway. We are going to have to look at how we communicate about democracy, but we will also have to go local and go back to our roots to make sure that democracy delivers.

Unfortunately, I think that, whether we like it or not — and I mean the royal ‘we’: all of us, civil society and independent media — are also going to have to become experts in marketing, PR and content creation. I think this is the fortunate or unfortunate reality of where things are heading. As much as we can talk about how sophisticated the tools of manipulation are now, I think we must be honest that, from a regulatory standpoint, we are still behind. We can speak more about this.

From the perspective of somebody in civil society or independent media, we also need to adapt to this new reality. We need to think about how we make democracy cool. This might sound very silly, and maybe a bit plastic, but what works are cool memes and cool AI-generated videos. Whether they are true or not is completely irrelevant. Maybe this is a problem for public discourse. Maybe it is a problem for democracy in the long run. But, in the short run, we will continue to lose out if we do not adapt in this way.

This is going to depend so much on the context and on which local messages will resonate. It matters very much who is at the table to build those narratives. We all talk a lot in our bubbles about how to get young people to the table and how to integrate them into political processes. I mean, ask them what they want to see from us! We can be doing so much more to make sure that they are there to drive some of this narrative creation. And they know the tools better than we do. Let us be honest about that, too.

Sebastian Rodriguez, campaign strategist at European Movement International

To begin with, let us stop being so obsessed with the word ‘democracy’. I think we are so attached to that word, which means a lot historically, but, for average citizens who have been asked to vote every four or five years, trying to put a coin into a trust machine for so many years without getting anything in return, democracy should probably not be your leading message.

I am not saying we should not talk about democracy, but I am saying we should focus on values that people actually hold dear: freedom and rights, how to protect them and how to gain new rights, for sure, but also how to protect what we have. We are more afraid of losing something we already have rather than not gaining something else that we do not have. The rights of our cousin who is part of the LGBTQI+ community, or the rights of marginalised people, are not to be taken for granted. The way we protect them is not only by voting, but also by being active in our societies every day. This can mean anything, from volunteering with an association that takes in abandoned animals, to becoming a member of a political party. Both are meaningful ways to contribute.

You can watch the video interviews here. You can watch the recording of the panel on our website where you can also find more information about the panellists.