Category:
Reports
Lithuania Weekly: Finalised MG Baltic Case
During this reporting period, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal issued a ruling in one of the most resonant political corruption cases in Lithuanian history. Eligijus Masiulis, Raimondas Kurlianskis and Vytautas Gapšys were convicted of bribery and influence peddling in the scandalous MG Baltic political corruption case. Even though this case started back in 2016, being the largest one in Lithuanian history, it has still attracted mass attention. Besides intriguing citizens, the MG Baltic case also strongly affects the public’s opinions on the courts and the judicial system in general.
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Latvia Weekly: Istanbul Convention and Economic Struggles
At the centre of discussion of the examined week were two topics that have been prevalent in the disinformation content examined prior- the ratification of Istanbul Convention and the controversy surrounding private jet flights by the current foreign affairs minister and the former prime minister Krišjānis Kariņš. With Istanbul Convention getting closer to ratification which had been priorly articulated by the examined accounts as impossible the narratives now help to fuel their aspiration of dismissing the current parliament for which they are currently trying to obtain necessary votes for a referendum. In regard to the private jet flights, there is an overall agreement that this constitutes excessive spending however it helps the examined authors to further create the image of Latvia being corrupt, its people being poor and create and shape and overall narrative of not thrustworthy government. During the examined week, the volume of content examined was significantly lower than prior weeks. From the examined platforms, it follows same as the prior weeks- video content reaches bigger audiences and creates more engagement with Twitter and Telegram receiving the least engament and Tiktok and Facebook the most.
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Lithuania Weekly: Another Removed Citizenship?
During this reporting period, Kremlin-aligned media channels in Lithuania promoted “Lithuanians are Russophobes” narrative. Following on the removal of Drobiazko’s citizenship, another case appeared in the Lithuanian media: famous Russian ballet dancer Ilzė Liepa, who openly praises Putin and his war in Ukraine, and who holds Lithuanian citizenship, is now being considered for removal of it. Some posts backed up the argument of Russophobia and called Liepa a “victim”, “Drobiazko-2”, and the whole situation as “outraging the Russophobes”.
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Latvia Weekly: Distrust in Latvian Politicians and Traditional Family
From the findings examined this week, the main narrative has switched from the Istanbul Convention as it is moving forward to be potentially ratified by the judicial committee signaling the failure of the prior disinformation attempts. The two most discussed topics in the examined week are the referendum for the dismissal of the current Latvian parliament and the excessive spending of the previous prime minister and current foreign minister Krišjānis Kariņš who has spent around 600 000 euros in private jet flights during his post-as a prime minister. There is a noticeable trend of content posted on Facebook and TikTok reaching audiences that do not support the views of the creator and express a more critical view. Additionally, more content is being posted on Twitter however it reaches little to no engagement.
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