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Reports

October 30th - November 5th, 2023 by Urtė Andriukaitytė

Lithuania Weekly: Protest’s Echoes

Kremlin-aligned outlets this week heavily concentrated on anti-government sentiments. Majority of the most engaged stories from this type of media covered domestic issues, harshly criticising either specific officials or the whole government in general. Issues related to Ukraine also remained of high importance, narratives concerning its prioritisation over Lithuania’s domestic issues and Ukraine’s “hardly possible” victory, were highly prominent. Of way lesser importance, but still prominent was the narrative covering war between Israel and Hamas. This time, far more articles emphasised military actions from Israel towards Gaza than in the previous period.

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October 30th - November 5th, 2023 by Otto Tabuns

Latvia Weekly: Istanbul Convention and LGBTQ 

From the findings of the examined week, similar disinformation narratives to prior weeks have been followed. The main topic discussed throughout the content of various authors across several platforms is the Istanbul Convention. As the Latvian parliament moved closer to allowing the registration of same-sex partnerships, disinformation from authors close to the opposition parties or within the opposition parties themselves followed. The content examined tends to group the Istanbul Convention and same-sex partnerships under one roof despite the former addressing issues of domestic violence against women which has nothing in common with the latter. The main narratives include that the Istanbul Convention will somehow affect children's teaching, which will be harmful. Additionally, a common narrative is that the United States is paying for the "lgbt propaganda" which is reflected in same-sex partnerships and the Istanbul Convention. However, when examining the sources to which the authors making such posts refer they lead to the United States government sites in which they talk about the budget given to fighting inequality of gender pay which has nothing to do with the lgbt movement. 

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October 2023 by Urtė Andriukaitytė

Lithuania Monthly: Lithuanian Schools Inundated with Bomb Threats in Coordinated Attack

Analysis of Kremlin-aligned media in Lithuania reveals a continued focus on promoting the anti-government narrative. All top stories from these specific outlets carry negative sentiments targeting the government, in an attempt to turn their audience against the main ruling politicians and national institutions. During the reporting period, Kremlin-aligned media outlets emphasized the "failing education system" (due to the ongoing teachers' protests), commented on all the revealed candidacies for the forthcoming presidential elections, emphasized the government's inadequate response to false bomb threats and detailly analysed the case of Lithuanian defence chief Valdemaras Rupšys, misusing his state allowance.

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October 2023 by Otto Tabuns

Latvia Monthly: Istanbul Convention

“Ārlietu ministrs Kariņš nesenā uzstāšanās Strasbūrā minēja to, ka tie, kas ir pret Stambulas kоnvenciju ir it kā Krievijas ietekmēti”/ Foreign affairs minister Kariņš in his recent visit in Strasbourg claims that those that are against ratification of Istanbul Convention are influenced by RussiaThe ratification of the Istanbul Convention has been on the agenda of the leading Latvian party “Jaunā Vienotība”, however it has not been able to receive the necessary support within the parliament. In late spring of 2023, the topic of violence against women in Latvia and the lack of mechanisms to prevent it or protect women was brought up following a shocking homicide of a mother by her previous partner in which the police was, in view of public opinion, compliant due to their negligence. Following the incident Krišjānis Kariņš had publicly stated that the coalition should be more active in its efforts to ratify the Istanbul Convention and had set is a goal for the

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