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Issue 48 - 22 November 2016
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Focus on Poland
This week, pro-Kremlin outlets focus on two central European countries in particular: the Czech Republic and Poland.
In the Russian talk show Vremya pokazhet, Poland was presented, on the basis of a recent opinion poll, as being full of hate towards Russians (http://bit.ly/2fIcNqg). In fact the poll did not mention the word hate at all, but simply noted that better attitudes to other nationalities were recorded in countries with higher standards of living (http://bit.ly/2gaUQze). It is a recurring narrative in pro-Kremlin media that Europeans hate Russians, so the East Stratcom Task Force tested this claim on people on the streets of Brussels and found a different picture (http://bit.ly/2f2PUPk).
Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic we learnt that Ukrainian fascists have a substantial impact on national politics and are behind the recent protests in Prague; and that fascists hordes govern the Ministry of Interior (http://bit.ly/2g8VgIs). It's noteworthy that these claims surface shortly after the announcement of a new department to counter Russian and Islamist disinformation and propaganda – to be situated in the Ministry of Interior (http://bit.ly/2e5i4bY). In other stories, we heard that the Czech economy is being drained by the EU (http://bit.ly/2fe8mj4), ignoring the fact that the country is in fact a net recipient of EU support, as confirmed by the Czech Ministry of Finance (http://bit.ly/2fIB9A7).
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Further historical revisionism
Continuing the focus on Central Europe, we saw several cases of historical revisionism this week – another favourite tactic of pro-Kremlin disinformation. Russian TV show Mesto Vstrechi called for a revision of the acknowledgement of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which around 22,000 Polish nationals were killed, claiming that the atrocity in fact never happened (http://bit.ly/2gyxuah). This in spite of the fact that the Russian Parliament in 2010 acknowledged Russia's responsibility for the massacre (http://bit.ly/2g8sjIW).
There were also claims in pro-Kremlin media that the Velvet Revolution that ended totalitarian communist rule over the then Czechoslovakia was in fact the first colour revolution, orchestrated by the CIA and the KGB (http://bit.ly/2g8QGtV) – similar claims regarding the 1956 Hungarian uprising against communist rule were reported two weeks ago in the Disinformation Review (http://bit.ly/2fMWvfX).
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We also learned this week that Russia has consistently pursued a policy of good neighbourly relations and respect for international law (http://bit.ly/2gby8H7) in its neighbourhood, despite the obvious facts to the contrary. And, on the subject of historical revisionism, we have to correct the claim on Russian TV this week that the EU existed during the rule of Napoleon and of Hitler and was therefore complicit in aggression at that time (http://bit.ly/2gyN8ST).
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Cancel Christmas!
The often repeated narrative that the European Union is in decline also reappeared this week. According to one Russian TV programme, there are no common European values and there is no peace in Europe (http://bit.ly/2fIuQgc). And, with Christmas round the corner, we will need to look out for Christmas disinformation stories again. In Sweden they apparently might as well cancel Christmas altogether. After the last story two weeks ago about a ban on Christmas lights (http://bit.ly/2fPd5Zr), we learned this week that Muslims in Sweden are attacking Christmas trees (http://bit.ly/2gcx5Xy). Fortunately this story was also completely falsified - it seems that Sweden will celebrate Christmas after all.
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Download the FULL TABLE (.pdf) of disinformation pieces
collected for the Disinformation Review issue No 48
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