Category:
Reports
Lithuania Weekly: Minister of Defence stepping down
During the reporting week, the Minister of National Defense, Arvydas Anušauskas, announced his resignation. The sudden and unexpected event generated mass reactions across all media, including the Kremlin-aligned. Most malign actors and outlets emphasised that after it became clear that Anušaukas resigned, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė had to explain the situation immediately. Failing to do so, or, as Kremlin-aligned media put it, “her unwillingness to do so”, indicated that “there is no professionalism left in this government”. They also claimed that it was not only “the worst time to announce his [Anušauskas] resignation” referring to the intense situation with the war in the close neighbourhood and during the weekend of the "election" of the Russian president), but the delayed response let the panic spread “like wildfire in society for three days”. The story itself and the follow-up handling of it allowed the anti-government narratives to spread further and possibly affect the general view of the ruling government before the upcoming elections later this year.
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Latvia Weekly: Russia and European Parliament elections
In the examined week, content primarily surrounded themes of corruption mainly relating to the former prime minister and current foreign minister Krisjanis Karins and Russia concerning potential threats from Russia, trade with Russia, and communication from the government regarding these issues as well as the treatment of Russian diaspora in Latvia. The narratives of corruption and harmful treatment of the Russian diaspora in Latvia have been present in the prior examined months, whereas the argument on Latvia to retain some form of economic cooperation with Russia resulted from an initiative in the parliament to ban all such activities. When comparing the audience's response regarding similar content concerning the treatment of the Russian diaspora in Latvia on different platforms (Facebook and Twitter), the engagement reached on Twitter is noticeably more critical, calling out the author's logistical inconsistencies and misrepresentation of facts.
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Estonia Weekly: Economy and high taxes
This week, many posts focused on the economy, raising taxes and the budget. Several posts claimed the misuse of state funds by politicians for political advertising. Posts contended that the higher taxes are what is causing the economic downfall. Some posts centred around the Ukraine war, as well, with claims that Kaya Kallas cannot guarantee that Estonian soldiers will not be sent to Ukraine. there was also a story about an Estonian ambassador who was removed from a delegation flight to Japan because he was supposedly drunk, but no one will explain what happened.
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Lithuania Monthly: Suspected embezzlement of millions
During this reporting period, a significant financial scandal dominated the Lithuanian media space. On 2nd February 2024, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office requested the arrest of a former partner of the BaltCap Infrastructure Fund in Vilnius. Šarūnas Stepukonis was suspected of having misappropriated €27 million from the fund. This revelation has triggered a complicated blame game and raised questions about oversight and potential connections between this case and the gambling industry.
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