Main narratives:
- Latvia’s investments and foreign relations perceived as inferior to those of Lithuania and Estonia.
- Claims of systematic oppression against Russian speakers by coalition parties in Latvia.
- Doubts about the impact of severing economic ties with Russia and Belarus on Ukraine’s conflict.
- Criticism of the EU’s Green Deal, contrasted with claims of Latvia’s leading environmental status.
- Global warming skepticism fueled by atypical weather, coupled with conspiracy theories about the EU orchestrating a new pandemic.
Overview:
In the examined week there were two predominant narratives first in relation to Russian language use in Latvia and second in relation to the impact of the European Union. The narratives remain similar to prior weeks showing a negative sentiment towards the European Union and attempting to create a narrative of Russian speakers being mistreated within Latvia and by the Latvian government. Similar narratives have been employed by Russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine and can also be found in response from the public with several commentators expressing the view that any restriction of language is a hate crime and even comparing it to nazism. 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.
