The most vulnerable country in Europe to Russian propaganda

Anca Alexe 25/07/2018 | 15:53

The Republic of Moldova is the country most exposed to Russian propaganda and the most vulnerable to misinformation and manipulation, according to a study titled “The resistance to misinformation in Central and Eastern Europe”.

The study found that most top television networks in Moldova rebroadcast Russian programming with viewers among the local population, and that the online media favours the Kremlin.

Researchers also write that there are several population categories that are more vulnerable to manipulation, and that the measures recently taken by authorities are not sufficient – instead, they are susceptible to favouring certain political groups. According to the study, the most vulnerable groups were: ethnic minorities who speak Russian (about 20 percent of the population); some active followers of the Orthodox Church in Moldova, subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchy; the elderly, who represent around 700,000 people and whose education level is generally lower than that of other members of society.

Moldova obtained the weakest score in the study and was overtaken only by Belarus when it comes to Russian propaganda, which demonstrates a low resistance level to this phenomenon. Latvia was also found vulnerable, while Lithuania and Romania are seen as more able to resist.

The study was conducted following research done between May 2017 and May 2018 by the Foreign Policy Council “Ukranian Prism” and the Eurasian States in Transition Center (EAST), in collaboration with other research centers in CEE.

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