EU fights anti-Ukraine propaganda ahead of parliamentary elections
- Pro-Russian accounts have been spreading social media posts that depict Ukrainian refugees as violent criminals or claim that Kyiv officials misuse aid funds
- The aim of such propaganda is to weaken the EU’s resolve and benefit anti-immigration parties in Germany, France and the Netherlands, an analyst says
As the European parliamentary elections in June move ever closer, experts warn that pro-Russian players are flooding social media with false claims about the war in Ukraine to boost support for far-right and nationalist parties.
Pro-Russian accounts have been pumping out posts on Facebook, X and TikTok that depict Ukrainian refugees as violent criminals or claim that Kyiv’s government officials siphon off financial aid sent by the West to buy luxury yachts and villas for themselves.
Another theme with particular potency in countries closest to the conflict is that refugees receive higher state benefits than locals.
The aim of such propaganda is to weaken the EU’s resolve and benefit anti-immigration parties like Germany’s AfD, France’s National Rally or the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, said Jakub Kalensky, an analyst at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) in Finland.
Such disinformation will “definitely play a role” in the June 6-9 vote, when more than 400 million Europeans choose a new five-year parliament, he said.