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An analytical report prepared in Russia on strengthening soft power in the Baltics shows that the propaganda restrictions introduced in our country are causing serious problems for Russians. Therefore, more sophisticated techniques in the areas of education, culture and social networks must be used to circumvent the bans, reports the TV3 program “Neka peresika”.
In 2023, Pskov University, funded by the Russian federal budget, prepared an “analytical report” on the Baltic states’ policies regarding Russian language and culture. The news was published by Aleksandrs Djukovs on the Telegram platform. He is a historian and works on the Advisory Council for International Relations established by the Russian Presidential Administration. Djukov is blacklisted in Latvia, Lithuania and other countries.
One of the report’s authors is Nikolajs Meževičs, who heads the Baltic States Research Association in Russia. He often speaks on Russian television and YouTube channels about Russophobia, Nazism and other denials he has seen in the Baltics, and participates in the Valdai Club founded by Vladimir Putin. Stands out with loud statements, for example that the Baltic states do not exist from a Russian perspective, it says in the program.
In the 136-page document, scientists analyze what soft power tools Russia should use in the new conditions when traditional propaganda channels in the Baltics are closed.
Russian analysts see a perspective in social networks. Unlike other platforms, Telegram remains a pro-Russian resource, the report says. The document lists the most popular pages of the social networks “Telegram” and “Vkontakte”, which make the Russian world known in the Baltics.
They are “Antifascist Pribaltiki” who have more than 15,000 followers. In Latvia, at least six representatives of this organization are being investigated not only for denying war crimes in Ukraine and inciting ethnic hatred, but also for gathering information in the interests of Russian secret services. The political party “Latvijas Krievu savienė” (now part of the association “Pamats-LV”) describes these people as political prisoners.
The report also mentions “Baltnews,” which is followed by nearly 18,000 people. The groups “Šproti v izgnanije”, “Tribaltiskije Vimirati”, “Baltologija”, “Okupacija Pribaltiki voiskami NATO”, “Russkaya Pribaltika”, “Litva – poligon NATO” have a smaller but also significant audience.
Researchers commissioned by the Russian government come to the conclusion: People in the Baltic states live in an information bubble that Russian propaganda has difficulty penetrating. New methods need to be used to influence those who consume information in Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian.
“Since 2018, it has been observed that Russia’s so-called psychological information and influence operations have changed. While the strategy was previously based on the idea of using the so-called minorities to assert their interests in Latvia, things are now completely different. It is using a strategy that is no longer about Russia, but about the West and Western values,” comments Jānis Bērziņš, senior researcher at the Security and Strategic Research Center of the Latvian National Defense Academy.
Now Russia’s psychological influence operations are designed to sense society’s vulnerabilities and mistrust of politicians, media and other institutions. Russia uses them, inflates them and directs them in the desired direction – against globalization, against the existing democratic system.
The purpose of these actions, according to Bērziņš, is to destroy the existing political system so that forces more in line with Russia’s interests come to power. Russia wants to turn all of its neighboring countries, such as Belarus or at least Hungary, into satellites.
Also read: A week in Lithuania | Education Minister Considers Closing Russian Schools; The police stop a car with two kilograms of cocaine
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