He singled out the European country most likely to be affected by Russian propaganda: the target is 40 percent. of the country’s population

Disinformation – you can see a lot of it in the social space these days. In addition, various information attacks, the spread of fraudulent messages and the intensification of activities of activists spreading pro-Russian ideas often occur. All this has a kind of effect on the lives of the residents of not only Lithuania, but also the whole of Europe, but the most important thing is that the services that ensure the safety of all of us focus on it.

As confirmed by the representatives of the Lithuanian army, the analysts of the Lithuanian army record, deconstruct and carefully analyze disinformation, purposefully directed against the Lithuanian army and the state, which is related to the defense of the country.

“Both in the contexts of the army and NATO, there are obvious efforts by hostile actors to disrupt actions that ensure security for Lithuania. It refers to the modernization of the army, the presence of NATO forces in the country, the deployment of the German brigade. Attempts are being made to discredit these actions, to portray them as unnecessary, redundant or even economically harmful,” the Lithuanian army’s comment stated.

According to experts, the total number of cases of hostile information activities recorded in Lithuania last year amounted to 3,520 unique information cases.

“This activity was aimed at influencing Lithuanian, Western and internal Russian and Belarusian audiences. Hostile information activities were aimed at reducing the will of Lithuanian citizens to defend themselves, trust in NATO and undermining support for Ukraine,” explained representatives of the Lithuanian army.

Although, according to representatives of the Lithuanian military, public opinion surveys show that one in ten Lithuanian residents may be inclined to repeat hostile narratives, nevertheless, we can be happy that the studies that appear in the public space suggest that the resistance of the Lithuanian population to disinformation is good.

“Seven out of ten residents agree with the statement that Russia is conducting hostile information operations in Lithuania. Such a relationship allows us to assume that the information actions of Russia or Belarus have a limited opportunity to influence our society. Discussions in society, on social networks, among the academic community, the media and politicians on this issue strengthen the resilience of society. The public is periodically introduced to information attacks or their damage, disinformation and its forms. Based on all the mentioned facts, it can be asserted that the majority of Lithuanian citizens are sufficiently resistant to the informational pressure of Russia or Belarus”, the statistics shared by the Lithuanian army.

It is worth reviewing the situation in other European Union (EU) countries. As shown in 2022 October month. According to a sociological survey published by the Open Society Institute in Sofia, Bulgaria is the most vulnerable country in the EU to disinformation, as Bulgarians have the lowest media literacy of all EU member states.

Finland, Norway, Denmark and Estonia are the EU countries with the highest media literacy of their population. The Media Literacy Index was developed by the European Policy Initiative (EuPI) of the Open Society Institute in Sofia and assesses the potential of 41 European countries to resist disinformation and fake news based on indicators of media freedom, education and trust in people.

Bulgaria was the worst performer on indicators measuring the quality of education, ranking 34th out of 41 countries, behind other non-EU countries in the region such as Ukraine, Serbia and Turkey, but with similar results to Romania.

Education is a key element in the fight against fake news, and Bulgaria has so far taken no measures to educate people on how to recognize disinformation campaigns.

All this makes Bulgarians particularly vulnerable to Russian propaganda on social networks, especially Facebook, which is the most used social network in the country (70% of all Bulgarian social network users use Facebook).

Bulgarian portal media pool political scientist Dimitaras Ganevs said that approximately 30 percent The Bulgarian population holds pro-Russian positions, another 30 percent. – pro-Western, and about 40 percent – neutral. They are the target of propaganda campaigns.

In addition, in 2024 March. The Ipsos poll commissioned by Euronews showed that 41 percent Bulgarians support Viktor Organ, who is the most popular foreign politician in Bulgaria. Vladimir Putin is in second place in this ranking with 37 percent. positive evaluations, despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, the positive assessment of V. Putin among Bulgarians reached more than 60 percent.

However, in 2024 March 1 The Bulgarian authorities have decided to take measures against disinformation, and a special structure has been created in the Ministry of Defense to monitor disinformation on the Internet and traditional media. The intelligence center will monitor and analyze “hybrid information attacks and disinformation campaigns targeting the military and national security and defense policy.” The director of the information center, Vladimir Milenski, told the parliament that the commission will not introduce censorship.

The center was established under the Ministry of Defense because the disinformation campaigns that began after the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine severely damaged the interests of the Bulgarian military. Opinions that Bulgaria will be drawn into the war are widespread, including among political figures such as Kostadin Kostadinov, leader of the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazdane party, who leads the country’s third-largest party (around 14 percent support).

According to Lithuanian experts, lies and disinformation constructed and spread by states hostile to Lithuania (Russia and Belarus) are expertly adapted to the current affairs of our country.

“For example, when an element of the German brigade arrived in Lithuania, we recorded an increased number of propaganda aimed at Lithuanian-German relations and the topics of Lithuania’s membership in NATO. Disinformation aims to influence the opinion of the Lithuanian population, especially on issues related to national security and defense. As the elections are approaching, this may increase even more, as hostile states seek to influence the democratic processes in Lithuania,” the Lithuanian army pointed out.

And here is the social network analysis expert Georgijus Auadas for the portal media pool commented that before the European Parliament elections, the main narrative used to run disinformation campaigns in Europe will be refugees.

“In the past, disinformation campaigns used Middle Eastern refugees, and now they use Ukrainian refugees. They are described as intimidating, insolent, unwilling to work. This narrative is maintained in circulation and will remain so as long as the war continues. Even more interesting is the disinformation about military aid to Ukraine, which carries considerable weight. Current disinformation campaigns attempt to convince European audiences that continuing to send military aid to Kiev will result in more Ukrainian casualties and bring Europeans closer to a global conflict. The third main topic of disinformation is the “green deal”, which will allegedly lead to a shortage of electricity, restrictions will be introduced, in short – we will all die due to a lack of Russian gas”, commented G. Auadas.

In addition, the expert adds that disinformation affecting the LGBTQ community and spreading the message that the EU aims to change the sexual orientation of all Europeans is actively being spread.

“These disinformation campaigns can be easily found in Bulgaria, Greece, Spain, Poland, Slovakia and other countries,” the analyst said.

According to G. Auad, in addition to Russia, another important player interested in Europe is China. According to him, what China is currently doing is not to invent its own narratives, but to “strengthen foreign disinformation campaigns that favor them.” One of the main narratives that works in favor of the Chinese is: “Americans are not your friends.”

“They will try to strengthen the impact of this message, which is also spread through Russian disinformation channels,” said G. Auad.

According to the experts of the Lithuanian army, in the information age, with the wide possibilities of information technology and living in a democratic society, it is not possible to completely prevent disinformation. Therefore, according to them, it is very important that people are educated to develop their critical thinking and evaluation of what and where we read, what we share in our circle of friends.