Skip to content

Latvia

April 29th - May 5th, 2024 | Week 35 | Month 9

Latvia Weekly: Concerns over EU and RailBaltic

During the examined week the common narratives concerned policies in relation to Russian citizens residing in Latvia and the European Union.

by Otto Tabuns

Main narratives:

  • Claims that non-Latvian speaking residents do not pose a national security threat, amid harsh deportation policies.
  • Comparisons of EU governance to the USSR, casting doubt on Latvia’s autonomy and freedom.
  • Concerns over EU-driven pension reforms affecting Latvian citizens’ retirement plans.
  • Criticism of the RailBaltic project as indicative of government mismanagement and budgetary inefficiency.
  • Controversy surrounding Latvia’s funding of UNRWA, with allegations of indirectly supporting Hamas.

Overview:


During the examined week the common narratives concerned policies in relation to Russian citizens residing in Latvia and the European Union. Similar to prior weeks there is a disinformation narrative that aims to portray the mistreatment of the Russian population in Latvia- during this week the claim was that the current language policies are equivalent to deportation.  The narrative also common in prior weeks is the creation of a negative view of the European Union which has been compared to the USSR making claims that Latvia has never been a free country. In addition, disinformation actors who themselves are candidates for the European Parliament elections are spreading disinformation regarding policies implemented by the EU- for example, increasing of the pension age which in fact is not a competency of the EU. In terms of content, TikTok remains the platform that can garner the most significant engagement, similarly in prior weeks the engagement remains considerably low on Facebook and very low on Twitter. 

Weekly Reports
Aleksejs Roslikovs

Latvia Weekly: MP’s Arrest Fuels Populist Narrative Online

June 16th - June 22nd, 2025

Tallinn Orthodox Churxh

Estonia Weekly: Kremlin Echoes Persist Over Church Law

June 16th - June 22nd, 2025

Dovilė Šakalienė

Lithuania Weekly: Pro-Kremlin Media Stirs Backlash Over Military Remarks

June 9th - June 15th, 2025

Daugavpils

Latvia Weekly: Pushing Anti-Latvian Narratives to Russian-Speaking Audiences

June 9th - June 15th, 2025

Israel

Estonia Weekly: Middle East Tensions Fuel Anti-Western Rhetoric

June 9th - June 15th, 2025

Stop Putin

Lithuania Weekly: Kremlin-Aligned Media Amplifies Anti-Ukraine Narratives

June 2nd - June 8th, 2025

Aleksejs Roslikovs

Latvia Weekly: Roslikovs’ Outburst Sparks a Viral Storm

June 2nd - June 8th, 2025

Tallinn

Estonia Weekly: Cultural Renamings and Climbing Unemployment Fuel De-Russification Fears

June 2nd - June 8th, 2025

Award

Lithuania Weekly: Vaitkus Award Controversy Used to Undermine the Government

May 26th - June 1st, 2025

Saeima

Latvia Weekly: the Use of Social Media to Cast Government as Threat

May 26th - June 1st, 2025

Don't miss a story.

We publish stories that change laws, lives, minds and the world. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our investigations delivered to your inbox.