Mina Trpkovic ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin und Doktorandin in der LOEWE-Gruppe und im Programmbereich Internationale Institutionen am PRIF. Ihr Forschungsinteresse liegt an der Schnittstelle zwischen Internationalen Beziehungen, politischer Kommunikation und politischer Psychologie. Dabei untersucht sie insbesondere die Auswirkungen von Desinformationen auf die europäische Sicherheitsordnung. // Mina Trpkovic is a Doctoral Researcher in the LOEWE group and at PRIF’s Research Department International Institutions. Her research interests lie at the intersection between IR, political communication, and political psychology. In particular, she analyzes the effects of disinformation on the European security order.
Following the collapse of the recently renovated Novi Sad train station, which resulted in the death of 15 people, students across Serbia have been leading one of Europe’s largest protest movements. After months of anti-corruption demonstrations demanding justice and government accountability, hundreds of thousands gathered in Belgrade on March 15, 2025, in what some call the largest mass protest in Serbia’s history. While unprecedented in scale, these protests build on previous uprisings since 2018, driven by diverse causes, but united by a common thread – deep dissatisfaction with the corrupted state apparatus and Vučić’s regime.
In hindsight, the 2025 Munich Security Conference marked a pivotal moment. Once again the forum brought together decision-makers from around the world to discuss major global security issues, with widespread hope that it would set the stage for a sustainable peace process for Ukraine. Instead, the prospects for such a process have greatly declined, while the conference itself only further demonstrated the diminishing relevance of the ‘global West’. Originally established as a Military Security Conference (Internationale Wehrkunde-Begegnung) focused on European and transatlantic security, the MSC now stands at a crossroads: return to its European roots or expand politically and thematically? Both options come with a price tag.
With elections taking place in less than a month, Germany finds itself faced with a critical challenge: foreign influence and disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining democratic processes. As Anne Applebaum warns, authoritarian regimes are no longer passive observers but rather active participants in spreading narratives that target the core ideals of freedom and democracy. In Germany, the government’s fragmented approach to countering disinformation only underscores the urgent—and, given recent developments, long overdue—need for a more proactive strategy for better understanding and addressing disinformation–during elections and beyond them.
On July 21, 2024, Joe Biden announced that he would be dropping out of the race, only a week after the assassination attempt on now official Republican candidate, Donald Trump. The electoral campaign which has so far been characterized by immense uncertainty, provides a perfect breeding ground for the spread of disinformation about the candidates and election process itself. As the stakes of the upcoming US elections remain incredibly high for both domestic and international politics, disinformation is becoming one of the most pressing challenges of our time.
