Reports
Lithuania Weekly: Farmers’ protest takes over in Vilnius
Lithuanian Radio and Television worked with other supporters of Ukraine to launch a second iteration of last year’s successful pro-Ukrainian RADAROM! simultaneously, posts by Kremlin-aligned actors criticising this campaign emerged online, actively diminishing support for Ukraine. Moreover, during this reporting period, a large protest by farmers occurred in the Vilnius city centre. They brought their demands to Vilnius, lining the city’s main boulevard with around 1,300 pieces of heavy agricultural machinery. Kremlin-aligned media emphasised the ignorance and incompetence of the ruling officials. Once again, a large-scale event in Lithuania has become fertile soil for Kremlin-aligned actors to spread anti-government narratives.
Read moreEstonia Weekly: High living expenses and rightful actions of Russian Military
This week, posters were mostly focused on the Estonian economy, with posts focusing on taxes and tax brackets, which according to them, impact the average citizen more than the rich. Some posts wrote about the politicians giving the rich people more leniency. There were also many posts about the high electricity bills and cost of living in Estonia, and how this was all caused by Kaya Kallas and her parliament. Finally, the Russian embassy in Estonia shared a post from January which tells about Ukraine's attempt to have Russia labelled and aggressor state. The post mentioned that this attempt was unsuccessful, and flipped the narrative around, claiming that Ukraine was targeting civilian areas, while the Russian army was only targeting miliary targets.
Read moreLatvia Weekly: Brussels dictate and misused donations to Ukraine
In the examined weeks, new disinformation narratives have appeared. The new disinformation narratives have an underlying message of the European Union not being beneficial for Latvia. The content surrounding the Green Deal and global warming does not question global warming as such but rather focuses on how these restrictions imposed by the European union are negatively affecting the Latvian economy and even comparing the European Union to the USSR. Nevertheless, content on such topics is not gaining significant engagement.
Read moreEstonia Weekly: Ukraine and mistrusted politicians
This week there was more talk about the economy, including Estonia's assistance to Ukraine and its effect on the budget and economy, as well as the salaries of the Estonian politicians and how they are being paid more than teachers and paramedics, even though they do less to contribute to society. A missile attack in Ukraine was also mentioned, as well as America's and Britain's assistance with this claimed deliberate strike against civilians that killed and injured many. The switch of language of instruction was also brought up, and some teachers are struggling with learning Estonian and are scared of losing their jobs. Finally, there was a video link posted about the deportation of non-Estonian citizens and how those who are simply expressing their opinions are going to be deported as well.
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