“Countries do not have to respond to propaganda with counterpropaganda. The best response to fake news is true, independent media at the local level,” The President of Rebuplic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid expressed such a thesis during a briefing at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center. “As I tell to our national broadcaster – do not worry, you do not have to be the most popular channel in Estonia. But you need to be the most trusted. It means that the people know, that if something seems weird, then they will turn to your news”, explained Kersti Kaljulaid.
Russian propaganda works not only in Ukraine. Top European channels operate in the countries of the European Union. “Sometimes people, who have immigrated from Russia to Estonia, they even ask why we allow people present Putin’s position in Estonian national Russian-language broadcast? Because of that, we also present the other views. And people can decide for themselves what they are believing,” the President of the Republic of Estonia emphasized.
The main problem with the information warfare is that it is difficult to find evidence of propaganda. “Information may be used as a weapon. Sometimes we can only understand from the retrospective that somebody had manipulated the audience. It is like using doping in sports. Often there is the case that everyone knows, but until you are caught, you can compete”, clarified Kersti Kaljulaid.
“I am here in Ukraine because we believe that visiting Ukraine, we can help in the reform process in Ukraine to encourage your political class to speed up the reforms. We can remind our western partners the situation in Ukraine and the humanitarian situation surrounding the war region”, – summed up Mrs. Kaljulaid. On May 24, the Estonian delegation will go to the East of Ukraine.