Security of Elections in European Parliament

The article explores the European Union approaches to the problem of election security in the context of European Parliament elections. The topic is specifically relevant because in recent years Western democracies have made a lot of effort to counter foreign interferences, especially following turbulence around US presidential elections in 2016. In the European Union this topic was put on the top of the agenda in 2019 election cycle due to a number of external and internal factors and its importance is growing due to a number of reasons. The first reason is the growing role and status of EP among other European Union institutions. European Parliament is one of the key EU legislative bodies, and the only one elected directly by the citizens. The second reason is the rise of political activity in Europe, mostly because of younger generation and the use of information technologies in political processes. The turnout numbers during the recent elections in 2014 and 2019 demonstrate that this trend is most likely dominate in the 2024 elections as well. The third reason is the rise of European Union as an international relations actor. The EU becomes a stronger partner in relations with United States, and engages more in international affairs. The article aims to explain the threat perception in the European Union and investigate the measures taken in the EU against foreign interference in the elections to the European Parliament. Unfortunately, Russia is indicated as one of the most common sources of election security threats, and thus brings additional tensions to relations between Russia and European Union.