The VoiCEE podcast: decoding Russia's information war in Central and Eastern Europe

Hello, my name is Anastasia Herasymchuk. I'm Deputy Editor-in-Chief at Ukraine World. Today I have a pleasure to talk to Jakub Kalenski, the Deputy Director for the Hybrid Influence Team at the European Centre for Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Jakub, thank you for joining. Thank you very much for having me. Dziękuję. We are going to discuss Russia's most powerful weapon, its propaganda, with a special focus on how it is utilized in the states of Eastern and Central Europe. Jakub, the elections to the European Parliament garnered substantial attention from Moscow's propaganda machine. While Russia played this card within its domestic media sphere, the most concerning aspect is its attempt to influence the results of elections themselves.

Jakub, co myślisz o tajemnicy rosyjskiej propagandy i jej efektywności? Może... Just one sentence about how this effectiveness is perceived in Europe before we get into what factors determine the success. I've actually heard after the EU elections quite a few voices, be it NGOs or decision makers, speaking about The lack of disinformation campaigns before the EU elections. We have not seen much or we haven't seen anything spectacular or maybe we have seen something, but it wasn't successful. I believe it was Edmure that even declared a win in the fight against disinformation.

And that's important to keep in mind these intricate methods and remember that there are issues that unite us. Jakub, co byś powiedział o negatywnych konsekwencjach sprzedania tych narracji przez rosyjską propagandę? How more harmful can it be and to what extremely negative results the Russian propaganda's effectiveness can lead so that the societies are more aware of the necessity to be careful while consuming these ambiguous messages created by Russian propaganda?

Probably less dramatic, but still life-costing consequences in the Western world. There is this famous case of the Pizzagate shooter, the person who believed in this conspiracy, heavily pushed by the pro-Kremlin disinformation machine, that there are pedophiles in one pizza restaurant in DC. And he drove all the way from North Carolina and started firing a rifle, hoping that he will save the kids from this Names mentioned – Anastasia Herasymchuk, Jakub Kalenski, Ukraine World, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, Ukraine World, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, Names mentioned – Anastasia Herasymchuk, Jakub Kalenski, Ukraine World, European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats,

So I would actually say that it's very dangerous on many, many different levels. Dokładnie. Nie zapomnijmy, że propaganda zabija. Propaganda zabija ludzi. Propaganda zabija światową rządy. Wiemy o tym. Propaganda zabija demokrację, rządowe rządy, praktyki i sposób życia. Jakub, bardzo dziękuję za tę wyjątkową rozmowę i dziękuję, że przyjechałeś. Bardzo dziękuję, że przyjechałem. Było mi przyjemnie.