A recent article published by the Russian President in The National Interest received a lot of attention. In the text, Putin criticizes a resolution recently adopted by the European Parliament, holding the Soviet Union co-responsible for starting World War II. Putin's article simplifies the role of the Soviet Union in the outbreak of the war and even accuses Poland of being partially responsible for the breakup of Czechoslovakia and for the start of the War.

Messages like this do not go unnoticed. Excerpts of the article were posted on the Facebook page of the Russian embassy in Slovakia. It has also been shared and quoted by many local disinformation outlets and Facebook groups.

Alongside Vladimir Putin’s views on Central European history, many other disinformation narratives, campaigns and conspiracy theories are being spread by various online channels in Slovakia, often combined with serious news pieces in the effort to present them as legitimate news sources.

Online website Hlavný denník (“Main Daily”) published content from news agencies, however many of the pieces were written by members of the Strategic Culture Fund. This organization shows features of a modern think-tank focused on international relations, but their outputs are conspicuously in line with the Kremlin's propaganda, including texts claiming that Nazis govern Estonia or questioning the official reports of the events connected with the shooting down of the MH17 flight. Similar topics and pro- Kremlin messaging have also been taken up by the online magazine Extra Plus.

Social media communities do not stay far behind. The Facebook site Milujeme Rusko (“We Love Russia”) supports the annexation of Crimea, glorifies the war in Donbas, and combines such posts with general Russia-adoring contributions. The site has been operating on Facebook anonymously for 5 years now. Similarly, Facebook group Priatelia Ruska v SR (Friends of Russia in Slovakia), is not shying away from publishing blatant conspiracy theories (i.e. claiming that Angela Merkel is the daughter of Adolf Hitler), which are widely shared by their over 6000 members. It is notable that Facebook, despite its recent efforts to monitor disinformation on its platform, passively enables this activity in the long term.

The Night Wolves may look like a motorcycle club, but in reality, it is an organization closely connected with the Kremlin. They are financially supported by the state, some of the members took part in the fights in Eastern Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian separatists and are now on EU sanction lists.

After an investigation by Slovak authorities, these activities were suspended. Currently, Hambalek wants to start using the facility again for recreational purposes, meaning the base can become functional again.

So, what are the Night Wolves up to now? Surprisingly, instead of the base in Slovakia, they appeared in the Czech Republic a couple of days ago, where they revealed a banner regarding the statue of Marshal Konev, which was recently removed by the Prague municipality council. Konev, otherwise known as “Bloody Marshal”, oversaw the suppression of the anti-Communist uprising in Budapest in 1956, where his soldiers killed 2652 Hungarians.

The Czech government will have to select a supplier for the new nuclear block in Dukovany nuclear plant by 2024. So far, the Russian state company Rosatom is in an advantageous position when it comes to technical specifications. However, not even “Czech” businesses interested in potential works on the Dukovany project are free of Russian influence.

The ownership structure of several Czech companies with expertise in construction and technological supplies for nuclear and energy sites has changed. Many of them have gone through insolvency proceedings, resulting in the closure of companies or restructuring under the auspices of new owners, some of them enjoying access to the eastern markets or being partners with businesses from the Russian Federation.

Any success on the Russian market requires good relations with Russian oligarchs. That involves abandoning the notion of business as something independent of politics. This is the way the Kremlin flexes its muscle today – through arm-twisting of private companies and business activities. Subcontracting works on the Dukovany project will be another opportunity to enhance such influence.

The distortion and revisionism of historical events by the Russian Federation is not only a problem for Central European countries. “Historical diplomacy” has become an integral part of Russian influence operations. Most of the targets of those activities, however, lack the ability to respond to them, to explain them to the public, to the international partners, and to offer a narrative of their own.

1. The governments of the target countries should establish a system for not only monitoring Kremlin abuse of historical topics for their foreign policy goals, but also to instantly provide audiences with their own narrative and explanation for the public, foreign partners and allies.
2. Ministries of foreign affairs should establish a position of a Special envoy for historical diplomacy and use the resources of their embassies in European countries to monitor governmental and non-governmental channels participating in historical debates involving Russia. It is necessary to continuously evaluate the collected data and prepare positive narratives accordingly.
3. EU and NATO countries should systematically cooperate and exchange information amongst each other.

This newsletter includes outputs from the project of the European Values Center for Security Policy focused on training for non-governmental sector representatives, including investigators and bloggers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. More information can be found on our website.