At a plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs debated foreign interference and espionage by non-EU countries in European universities.
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00:00They are nerve centers of research and innovation, but also spaces for debate and exchange of
00:11knowledge.
00:12European universities are reportedly becoming targets of foreign interference by China,
00:17Russia and Iran, MEPs warned during a plenary debate on Thursday.
00:23Some say more measures need to be put in place.
00:42Taking the floor in the parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs said that some countries take advantage
00:47of academic partnerships to benefit from technology transfers, conduct espionage operations
00:53or influence debates.
01:18Among their recommendations, MEPs called for ensuring transparency in funding institutions,
01:24raising awareness at universities and increasing public funding for higher education.
01:30We should also coordinate this work with European intelligence agencies.
01:34After all, they will often be the first to uncover foreign interference, and we should
01:39not pretend that this is an extra-agnostic issue.
01:43China and Russia are our main source of foreign interference.
01:47So, while we welcome students with ties to these nations into our universities, we should
01:52not be naive and grant easy access to cutting-edge technology to everyone.
01:58We must be vigilant, though not paranoid.
02:01However, MEPs also stressed the importance of guaranteeing academic freedom along with
02:07the autonomy and openness of institutions.
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