The stakes in the Czech elections are high, and not only when it comes to domestic politics – the aggressive policy implementer Russia is also interested in a favorable outcome, reports “Politico.”
If the populist right-wing representative Andrej Babiš wins the election, he will join the Eurosceptic table, where Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico are already waiting. The leaders of Hungary and Slovakia maintain friendly relations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and regularly threaten the European Union’s efforts to help Ukraine.
The current Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has indicated that the elections scheduled for teh 3rd and 4th of October will be a fight for the country’s geopolitical future. At a campaign event in Pilsen, Fiala said the question of where the Czech Republic will go next is at stake: “Whether we remain a strong democracy, with full freedom, with prosperity, a country that is firmly part of the West … or whether we drift somewhere to the East.” Against this backdrop, analysts have warned that the Czech Republic is being inundated with Russian propaganda and disinformation. The volume of fake news has already increased since February 2022, to as many as 5,000 articles a month. A recent investigation by the Czech media outlet Voxpot found that the 16 largest disinformation portals produce more content than all of the Czech traditional media combined. The content varies widely, from critical reviews of the EU and NATO to far-fetched conspiracy theories that Brussels is advocating cannibalism to address climate change. Experts have emphasized that
the goal of pro-Russian disinformation is less focused on supporting a specific election candidate
and more on undermining public trust as such.
Kristína Šefčíková, head of the Information Resilience Program at the Prague Institute for Security Studies, said that political messages have recently shifted to questioning the legitimacy of elections, thereby also questioning democratic values. She added that the Kremlin’s guidelines can be clearly seen in the information space.
Under Fiala’s leadership, the Czech Republic has organized an initiative that allows for much faster delivery of ammunition to Ukraine. The country has also taken in a large number of Ukrainian refugees, who now make up 5% of the total population. A victory for Babiš, who went from communist to billionaire and co-financed the creation of the far-right Patriots for Europe group of MEPs, could change that.
Babiš’s party program calls for cutting the ammunition supply plan, and the politician has called in interviews for a compromise to end the hostilities in Ukraine. His party, the ANO, has also called for the removal of amendments from the legislation that would allow for the conviction of those who pass on state-sensitive information to other countries, including Russia. Fiala said it was clear that Babiš was helping Putin.
The populist candidate responded by accusing Fiala of trying to escalate the conflict
and suggesting that the prime minister was dreaming of war with Ukraine. Tomáš Cirhan, a political analyst at Masaryk University in Brno, said that Babiš was trying to win votes by appealing to the segment of society that believes that higher defense spending would come at the expense of local services. Cirhan added that Babiš was more of a pragmatic populist who, in order to win elections, says what his voters want to hear, rather than being ideologically pro-Russian.
Much of what happens if Babiš is elected will depend on which political forces he can form a coalition with.
While the Kremlin regularly denies interfering in Czech internal affairs, the avalanche of fake news is part of a broader strategy of hybrid warfare operations. In its annual report published in July, the Czech intelligence service said that Russia is using the messaging app Telegram to recruit individuals for espionage and sabotage. Many were not even aware that they were working for Russia and were hired by intermediaries. A representative of the intelligence service told Politico that the Czechs’ strong support for Ukraine has led to increased activity by Russian services, including cyberattacks. Šefčíková added that
the main goal is to create confusion, fear and insecurity.
Like many other European countries, the Czech Republic has banned Russian state media. However, at least a quarter of fake news sites either translate or paraphrase Russian media publications. This is a violation of sanctions, and Voxpot said that the lack of political will prevents the implementation of the rules.
Cirhan said that the Czech Republic’s relatively short history as a liberal democracy means that the government does not want to take on the role of a censor. He noted that any attempts to shut down social media accounts or websites as sources of disinformation are a very sensitive issue.
The search for a solution is also complicated by the fact that the Russian presence is not always clearly visible, even to experienced propaganda experts. Šefčíková said that sometimes there is a financial or other connection to Russia, but often there is only an ideological similarity or a common message, but no direct evidence of Russian complicity. She added that the best defense against fake news is to build trust in traditional media and democracy.
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