Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania
A successful European Ukraine poses an existential threat to the Putin regime. This is why Moscow has spent years directing its information resources to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians in the European media.
In times of war, Kyiv’s relations with neighboring EU countries are crucial in terms of Ukraine’s resilience. That is why the Kremlin attaches particular importance to undermining Ukraine’s bilateral relations with neighboring EU countries through the means of propaganda. By exerting an informational influence on European audiences, Russia is trying to undermine the determination of EU governments to provide aid to Ukraine.
Given this, within the project “Paving Ukraine’s Path to the EU: Informational Dimension” the Ukraine Crisis Media Center conducted an expert survey by the questionnaire method.
Methodology: More than 90 journalists, academics, political scientists, and information security experts from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania took part in the survey.
The survey was conducted from June 11 to July 1, 2024.
The purpose of the survey is to highlight the expert community’s perception of the trends and dynamics of media coverage of the European integration of Ukraine and the Russian-Ukrainian war in the media spaces of four EU countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania.
The four countries were chosen based on the importance of their bilateral relations with Ukraine, especially in areas such as logistics of arms supplies and export of Ukrainian goods. At the same time, the UCMC does not diminish the contributions of other EU countries in helping Ukraine and supporting the idea of Ukraine’s membership in the EU.
At the same time, the study of the coverage of topics related to the war and European integration of Ukraine in the media of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania contributes to the understanding of the dynamics of support for Ukraine from the societies of neighboring EU countries.
The survey also singled out the problem of anti-Ukrainian rhetoric by Eurosceptic political forces in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania.
Therefore asked respondents to answer these five questions:
- How would you assess the level of coverage of the Russia-Ukraine War in traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines)?
- Should the traditional media pay more attention to the Russia-Ukraine War?
- Is there manipulation and disinformation about the Russia-Ukraine War on social media platforms?
- Is the topic of Ukraine’s European integration still relevant in the information discourse of your country as of May/June 2024?
- Was the issue of Ukraine’s European integration addressed in the political campaigns of Eurosceptic parties and sociopolitical movements?
The expert evaluation was predicated on publicly available or condensed data.
Video-format of the presentation results (6 minutes duration):
And watch the expert discussion here: “How Russian Propaganda Attacks Ukraine’s European Integration: Bulgaria, Czechia, Poland, Romania”
The survey was organized with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework «European Renaissance of Ukraine» project. Its content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation.
