Main narratives:
- General anti-government sentiments;
- Distrust of politics;
- Russophobic rhetoric.
Overview:
The political coalition announced last week in Narva between Ms Raik and Mr Stalnuhhin is the subject of increasing public debate following the latter’s comments, which could be interpreted as provocative. Moreover, Estonia’s mainstream politicians have been quick to deny any intention of supporting the coalition, instead harshly criticising Mr Raik’s decision. The main issue is the discrepancy in the perception of democratic values and the stance on other socio-politically significant issues in Estonia, including minority rights, language policy in education, the Russian Orthodox religion and energy security. Given the history of misuse of these issues in pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns, the inclusion of Mr Stalnuhhin and his supporters in the Narva political coalition has sparked further public debate on social media and online platforms, where some anti-government and polarising rhetoric has emerged.
Another topic of discussion was the damage to two fiber-optic communication cables: one connecting Finland and Germany, and the other linking Sweden and Lithuania. Official statements suggesting that the incidents might have been caused by an act of sabotage were actively ridiculed in social media groups. The prevailing narrative was: “Western politicians will once again try to blame everything on Russia.” The tone of such posts was predominantly critical, casting doubt on the ability of Western intelligence agencies to investigate these incidents effectively. The authors of such posts made no serious attempt to consider plausible explanations for the incidents. Instead, they insinuated that any such event is immediately interpreted by Western elites through an anti-Russian lens, which, in their view, serves as evidence of growing “Russophobic sentiments” in Europe.
