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DebunkEU.org analyst Agnė Eidimtaitė said on the radio news program “Sifting Lies” that the number of such messages increased especially in commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the referendum on the preservation of the Soviet Union.
“We see that at that time various content about the Soviet Union and its collapse, and certain articles of misinformation through nostalgia, were more common. We believe that this year we will see the collapse of these messages, as well as the communication about the Soviet Union and the messages in this regard, because it marks 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, “said A. Eidimtaitė in the program. .
Vilnius University, Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Principal Investigator dr. Nerija Putinaitė said on the show that these messages are created not only for the external audience, but also for the internal one, for Russia itself.
“It just came to our attention then. Because what the investigation revealed, in such a concentrated way, was all those propaganda stamps and other things that there have always been. And those narratives have always been the same. Of course, this is an opportunity. But first I would associate it with internal Russian propaganda, and secondly, as a kind of mechanism to increase this nostalgia among Russian speakers, who do not necessarily live in ex-Soviet countries, but also those who have emigrated to Western countries.
This is a very good opportunity, because the West will also talk about the collapse of the Soviet Union. Although mainly associated with 1989, not with 1991. And here, Russian propaganda seems to be losing sight, creating such a narrative, ”said N. Putinaitė.
A representative from VU TSPMI explained that Russia always wants recognition from Western countries.
“It is important not to underestimate, for example, the number of emigrants from the Soviet Union who lived in Germany or the United States. But I think Europe is much more important here. Because having your own ambassador, consciously or semi-consciously in an EU institution, in the media is very important. This is the soft power through which that knowledge is spread, ”said N. Putinaitė.
He assured in the program that now the western media are already aware that Russia is carrying out this propaganda fight.
“But a few years ago that perception was much weaker,” said N. Putinaitė.
N. Putinaitė, the interlocutor of the program, assured that Russia understands how and what soft power works, how effective it can be, if not today, tomorrow or in 10 years.
“We have to think here that this is a state that has been measuring its history for centuries, not decades. It works with that perspective for centuries, ”N. Putinaitė shared his ideas on Knowledge Radio’s“ Sifting Lies ”.
Enjoy the frustration
A. Eidimtaitė, an analyst at DebunkEU.org, said messages are sent to both internal and external entities.
“This phenomenon is nostalgia for the Soviet Union, it is really frequent both in Russia and in post-Soviet countries. The messages themselves may be different. If for Russia the collapse of the Soviet Union and the entire period is defined as a tragedy, then it is said that the post-Soviet countries, especially the Baltic countries, have deteriorated after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ”said A. Eidimtaitė.
He said that he highlighted the mistakes of governments and explained how the European Union was exploiting them.
Who is N. Putinaitė pointed out that the remaining frustration of the population is being exploited.
“I don’t think that the Russian language is so essential here, there are also messages in Lithuanian. (…) The study provides a very good justification for the fact that the older generation suffered a certain trauma, economic, social, after the collapse of the Union Soviet. (…) So far we speak little of that generation most affected by that transformation that clung to life, stood up. But there are also many frustrated people who have received small pensions and live on them, “he said.
N. Putinaitė, a participant in the “Sifting Lies” program, urged that the younger generation also not be underestimated. During the Soviet era, they were sometimes allowed to romanticize.
“Here we are still talking not only about age, but about a certain very unique group of people who feel anger, frustration and dissatisfaction. And those messages apply in the first place, not so much to the age category, but to human emotion ”, said N. Putinaitė, interlocutor of the program.
The propaganda messages also emphasize Lithuania’s relationship in the context of the European Union.
“But what the research shows is based on the fact that Lithuania, as a country, cannot do anything in the EU. Because the game is for the big countries, not for the small ones. But I think this post has very little to do with it. But there is that frustration in the EU. But what works most strongly in Lithuania is that rotten Western homosexual marriage, where everything collapses, rotten morals, here are the Soviet stamps, ”he explained.
N. Putinaitė also presented as an example the presentation of the Public Limited Companies Law, which provoked many passions in society. And any human rights problem, he said, immediately arises somewhere “in the context of the West with its own kind of rot and collapse.”
“And that image of Lithuania, as if it had to resist the West. That is the anti-European axis here, ”said a representative from VU TSPMI.
What posts dominate?
DebunkEU.org analyst A. Eidimtaitė also featured the show’s most frequent propaganda messages.
“First of all, there is Russophobia, that the post-Soviet countries are ungrateful. Russia and the Soviet Union are practically synonymous in these messages. Those countries are presented as ungrateful, because the Soviet Union has built infrastructure, built several factories and now, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, those states, their governments have manipulated the EU, destroyed everything and lost jobs. The case of the Ignalina nuclear power plant often falls on Lithuania, “said A. Eidimtaitė, analyst at DebunkEU. org, on the news radio show.
She said messages related to Soviet nostalgia often contain offensive rhetoric.
“We try to give as much emotion as possible to the messages and articles. The more anger, dissatisfaction, frustration, the stronger the message,” he said.
When asked to specify the offensive rhetoric, A. Eidimtaitė stated that the insults are applied to countries and their governments.
“Sometimes called idiots, completely irrational, barbaric, uncivilized,” gave examples an analyst at DebunkEU.org.
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