About the author Alice Stollmeyer is Founder& Executive Director of Defend Democracy, a nonpartisan NGO defending democracy from foreign, domestic and technological threats. Alice has a background in social studies of science, technology and society. A former policy ad­viser, she now works at the geopolitical nexus of democracy, security and technology. Besides leading Defend Democracy, Alice is on the Steering Group of the Netherlands Democracy Coalition and she is an associated expert of the Euro-Atlantic Resilience Centre. About Brussels Democracy Dialogue The Brussels Democracy Dialogue(BDD) is a high-level platform for exchanging pro­gressive ideas and proposals to address the many challenges facing democracies to­day. Organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, it was originally held in Hambach, Ger­many, as the Hambach Democracy Dialogue(HDD). Since 2024, the conference has taken place in Brussels, bringing together around 100 progressive democracy experts from politics, academia, trade unions, and civil society across Europe and beyond. Its aim is to challenge our established explanations and to offer new and innovative solu­tions that enable progressive actors to successfully confront the recent global trend of democratic backsliding and to defend social democracy. Imprint Published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Godesberger Allee 149 53175 Bonn Germany info@fes.de Issuing Department Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung| European Union& Global Dialogue| Brussels Office| Rue du Taciturne 38| 1000 Brussels| Belgium https://brussels.fes.de/ Responsibility for Content Marco Schwarz| Policy Officer| Democracy& Rule of Law, EU Enlargement marco.schwarz@fes.de Contact democracydialogue@fes.de Design/Layout pertext| corporate publishing www.pertext.de The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES). Commercial use of media published by the FES is not permitted without the written con­sent of the FES. Publications by the FES may not be used for electioneering purposes. February 2026 © Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V. Further publications of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung can be found here: ↗ www.fes.de/publikationen FES EU Office Brussels