Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream was recently forced to drop a Russian-inspired bill. The party seems determined to return to this project, which may compromise Georgia's European path, but is promoted by Russian propaganda. The problem for the Georgian Dream - and for Moscow - is that most of the population opts for Euro-Atlantic integration.
Two Western diplomats visited the Republic of Moldova last week to discuss its involvement in the war in Ukraine, writes the Donetk publication trmsk.ru. In reality, the talks did not concern Moldova's involvement in the war; on the contrary, the country is actually exposed to the risk of a Russian operation.
Putin’s Russia is a conglomerate of toxic residue carried over from successive historical eras. From Russia’s imperial past, Russia inherited the fixation of becoming a global power. From the Soviet era, Putin sought to capitalize on the symbolic remnants of the superpower status, to make Russians believe this chapter in Russia’s history represented the pinnacle of their political existence. He added to this legacy the cynical and cunning attitudes specific to the criminal underworld, and he wrapped them in the illusion of power and wealth, to conceal the ruin and rot of widespread corruption.
Kyiv does not want to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency to create a protection zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and wants to cause a nuclear accident there, pro-Kremlin media say, citing several Russian officials. In reality, the creation of this protection zone can only take place through demilitarization, that is, if the Russian troops withdraw from the territory of the plant, an option that Moscow is not even considering.
A survey conducted in the Republic of Moldova, trying to assess the impact of disinformation, “fell prey” to Russian propaganda. Politnavigator.net has misused and misrepresented data in our survey in order to depict the Moldovan population as increasingly supportive of Russia’s cause in the war in Ukraine. In fact, the number of those siding with Russia in this war has nearly halved compared to the number who consider Ukraine is the victim.
The parliamentary elections held in Estonia showed that in an extremely unstable geopolitical situation in Europe, with the war in Ukraine going on for more than a year, the population is aware of the risks and is ready to rally around those political forces that rely on the European Union and NATO. At the same time, there were also some unpleasant discoveries for Estonian society.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban finds himself in a complicated situation. Politically, he gets increasingly isolated from its Western partners. Hungary's economy is in crisis, and the European funds that could relaunch it have been blocked due to anti-democratic slippages. With all the friendship that Budapest has shown to Russia, there isn’t much Russia can do to help, being itself increasingly affected by Western sanctions. Orban's solution appears to be to block Finland and Sweden's entry into NATO until the EU unlocks funds for Hungary. However, this blackmail policy may have reached its limits.
Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries have been skeptical about Russia’s true aims. It was a view that proved to be more realistic than those held by many in the West, who thought that Russia can be a genuine partner of the Western liberal democracies and part of a stable international system.
The linguistic and identity issue has persisted throughout the Republic of Moldova’s 30 years of independence. The most important claim during the national liberation movement of 1988-91 – the recognition of the Romanian language as the official language and the fact that Moldovans are part of the Romanian people – was hijacked in the following years by politicians from the old communist nomenclature, who also succeeded to include in the Constitution the phrase “the Moldovan language” as the state language.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on NATO member states to send troops to the territory of Ukraine, according to a false narrative of the Russian government media. In fact, the statement of the Ukrainian leader was taken out of context. Zelenskyy in fact referred to the activation of Article 5 in the NATO treaty should the Alliance be attacked by Russia.
The thesis about the two distinct peoples - Moldovan and Romanian – has been brought back into discussion by the Russian media in the context in which the Chisinau Parliament voted a law stipulating that the phrase “Moldovan language” shall be replaced in the legislation of the Republic of Moldova with “Romanian language”. Russian propaganda claims that the measure - taken following a decision by the Constitutional Court - is intended to prepare the union of the Republic of Moldova with Romania.
Russia is fighting a new “war for the defense of the fatherland”, but this time the enemy is not Nazi Germany but NATO, which wants to defeat Russia through Ukraine, according to a false narrative carried by the Russian state media. The truth is that NATO is not part of the conflict in Ukraine, and the confrontation with the West cannot be considered a war for the defense of the fatherland because Russia was not attacked by anyone, it was Russia who invaded an independent state.
The Russian leadership believes the country is permanently at war and pursues imperial and expansionist policies, the Russian independent media writes. Russian journalists also say Putin’s plan to restore “Great Russia” seeks to capture Ukraine through armed force and Belarus by forcing a unification.
From disinformation spread by propaganda regarding the imminence of a war in Transnistria, Russia has now moved to official statements about Ukraine’s plans to invade the separatist region of the Republic of Moldova. Transnistria seems to be used to draw attention away from Russia’s plan to destabilize Moldova, as well as from the defeats sustained in Ukraine. Besides, the pro-Russian opposition in Chișinău could take advantage of the panic induced by the prospect of war.
The Government in Chisinau imposes sanctions and uses repression against the Russian media, at the behest of the West, writes rubaltic.ru, a Russia-affiliated media outlet, recently banned in the Republic of Moldova . It resumes older narratives of Russian and pro-Russian propaganda, meant to undermine Chisinau's efforts to protect the information space from disinformation campaigns designed to undermine the pro-European governance, all the more dangerous for security as Russia appears to be engaged in a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova.
Russia launched its “special military operation” in the early hours of February 24. The scale and direction of the Russian attack show that Moscow was planning a blietzkrieg that would end with the beheading of the Ukrainian leadership and at least the seizing of the entire Black Sea coast to open the way to Transnistria. However, the Ukrainian resistance overturned Moscow's plans, and the conflict became a long-lasting one, in which both camps have scored successes, but also failures. Veridica presents 10 of the main moments of this war.
Russia was forced to launch military actions in Ukraine to save itself from NATO military bases and Ukrainian Nazism, and the “special military operation” is necessary and important for all Russian citizens, according to a propaganda narrative distributed one year after the start of the full-scale invasion. The truth is that Russia, without being threatened in any way, launched an imperial war to bring Ukraine under its control.
Formally, Tbilisi maintains its course towards integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, but the movement towards the West has been on inertia lately, while Moscow's influence is only growing. The ruling party, founded by oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, increasingly links national interests with his personal interests, be it political or business related. At a decisive moment for Georgia's future, such a policy may prove fatal.
Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova are preparing for a military operation against Transnistria and an “armada” of tanks stationed in Romania will come to help, writes the Russian publication politnavigator, citing statements made by so-called Russian experts. Just three days after the false narrative was published in the press, it was officially resumed , in a slightly modified form, by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Voted by Parliament less than a week after the resignation of the Gavrilita Government, the Recean cabinet came up with a government program that focuses on security, economic development and the European integration of the Republic of Moldova. The document does not make any reference to the relations with Russia, although it is clear that Russia will continue to influence, through its people, the political processes in Chisinau and has other important levers, primarily Transnistria and the energy weapon.
Poland positioned itself as one of Ukraine’s main supporters: it allowed its territory to be used for arms deliveries while becoming a major arms supplier in its own right and convinced its NATO allies to support Ukraine even more. In parallel, Warsaw is engaged in a process of strengthening its own army. All this shows that Poland is turning into a key actor for the European security, an actor that is, however, increasingly exposed to the theses of Russian propaganda.
The EU sent troops, trainers and spies to Ukraine long before the 2022 war, according to a Russian state media propaganda narrative citing the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. In fact, the EU has not sent any troops and is not taking part in the military actions underway on the territory of Ukraine.
The timespan of the conflict, which exceeded original estimates, the losses sustained so far and daily hardships continue to leave their mark, and many Ukrainians now struggle with war fatigue – even though they are still determined to resist. Russian propaganda has been trying, using its specific mechanisms, to capitalize on this fatigue and on any other problems that are inherent to such a destructive war that seems to be never-ending.
According to the Moldovan president, the Russian plan involves para-military units of foreign fighters, in civilian clothes, which would have attacked state institutions and taken hostages, the actions being masked by protests of the pro-Russian opposition.
The president of the Republic of Moldova, dismissed Natalia Gavrilița because she wanted a Prime Minister that would purge the opposition, a pro-Kremlin publication writes, also claiming that Natalia Gavrilița was allegedly humiliated in public by her unexpected dismissal. The same publication also reiterates several other false narratives claiming the pro-European administration in Chișinău is a profoundly anti-Russian dictatorship.
Estonia is gearing up for general elections, which are scheduled in March. This year, they will come against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the problems brought by the war throughout the region. Thus, security and energy are bound to be the main topics of the electoral campaign. Also because of the war, it is highly unlikely that any significant party will raise the questions of improving relations with Moscow as a way of courting Estonia’s Russian minority.
Russia’s imperialistic drive is the result of policies in the “liberal” ‘90s, which the West and Ukraine turned a blind eye to at the time, the Russian independent media writes. Independent publications also claim that, by invading Ukraine, Russia brought European closer together. Previously, Moscow was bankrolling MEPs to gather support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Independent journalists have also analyzed the attitude of Russian artists towards the war, and noticed that those artists who are particularly popular with the younger generations refrained from supporting the war and even criticized it.
Hungary has a “preferential” contract for its gas imports from Russia, but has now ended up paying more than other European states. Prices for fuel and Diesel have skyrocketed, and inflation has hit the highest mark at EU level. Besides, Budapest’s bypassing European regulations and values has prompted the European Commission to freeze €7 billion worth of EU funds to Hungary. All that spirals into an economic crisis generated, for its most part, by Viktor Orbán’s policies.
The Russian military behaved humanely towards the Ukrainian population and army during the invasion of southern Ukraine, according to the Russian state media, which quotes the self-proclaimed mayor of a city in the Kherson region. Mass graves and torture chambers have been discovered in southern Ukraine that show how humane the behavior of the Russians really was.
The letter Z, written in paint on Russian tanks, a mural of “Holy Javelin” on a block in Kyiv, “babushka Z” coming out to meet the Russian army or the insult “Idi nahui” addressed to the invading forces – these are some of the symbols associated with the war in Ukraine. Moscow uses symbols to justify its invasion and convince Russian men to enlist; Ukraine, to raise the morale and determination to resist, but also to strengthen the population’s feeling of national identity.
The government in Chisinau is bringing the country closer to NATO, which supplies the Republic of Moldova with weapons in order to prepare it to become a future theater of war against Russia, writes the Russian press, citing as an argument the delivery of 3 (THREE) armored vehicles by Germany. This is yet another plea for neutrality that ignores the facts, which show that, in fact, to Russia neutrality means only the acceptance of its hegemony and that it is ready to attack neutral countries that do not want to be in its sphere of influence.
According to a document of the Russian Federal Guard Service, the agency is prepared to defend Vladimir Putin including with the help of hypnotists and priests. The existence of a parapsychological defence plan may seem bizarre, but a penchant for mysticism and the paranormal is not uncommon in Russia. Over time, the elites and even the state have turned to unconventional helpers, such as Rasputin, KGB parapsychologists or the FSB general who said he can read minds.
