Three New Moves on the Eurasian Propaganda Chessboard

Paul Goble

            Staunton, October 11 – Every week brings new moves on the propaganda chessboard Eurasia now is. This week was no exception. Three of the most important were calls for a new effort to promote Moscow’s views on the Arctic, a Kyiv decision to make Crimean Tatar TV available around the world, and a Belarusian opposition effort to counter Russian propaganda.

            First, Russian Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the increasing importance of the Arctic means that Moscow must devote new resources to promoting the dissemination of Russia’s point of view on Arctic issues abroad as well as to attracting more tourists to the region (tass.ru/politika/2318237).

            Speaking in Sochi, he said that “additional measures are needed for the formation on the international level of an information image” of Russia in the Arctic.  “In recent times, we observe a growth in the negative flood of information in this direction. We must shift from a situational reaction to the appearance of this threat to strategic planning and the implementation of Russia’s information policy in the Arctic.”

            Second, Ukrainian television is now distributing programs in Crimea Tatar via three satellites and seeking to place this programming on cable abroad to link the Crimean Tatars of the world together by providing them with accurate news about Ukraine and the occupation (qha.com.ua/ru/obschestvo/zriteli-vsego-mira-smogut-uvidet-peredachi-na-krimskotatarskom-yazike/149340/).

And third, the Youth Front of Belarus, an opposition group that Alyaksandr Lukashenka has refused to register, voted to create a military-patriotic branch organization, “The Warrior,” and to establish “anti-imperialist clubs throughout Belarus with the goal of countering Russian propaganda (belaruspartisan.org/politic/320492/).