The Czech Republic is setting up a new counter-terrorism unit aimed at the threat posed by "foreign disinformation campaigns" -- or fake news. The Center Against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats is due to start operating on 1 January, according to an interior ministry statement, CNN says.

The new center is intended to monitor internal security threats, including attacks on soft targets and extremism, as well as "disinformation campaigns related to internal security."

Its establishment follows the publication in September of a Czech intelligence service report that identified Russian disinformation and cyber-espionage activities as a potential threat to the Czech Republic, European Union and NATO.

Read more (in English).

An interview with the Centre coordinator Eva Romancovova (in Czech) for the Czech Radio is available here.

According to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, countering outside influences on the campaign (before general elections in October 2017), is a key task for the new unit. View a video (in English).