Czech-Russian Relations. Russian Disinformation Campaign

• Authors: Andrzej Jacuch

Abstracts

EN

After the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, the Czech Republic became fully aware of the threats posed by the Kremlin despite President Zeman has denied the presence of Russian troops in Ukraine and has criticised the EU sanctions against Russia. Czechia belongs to the group of countries through which Russia influences the EU, to gradually and deliberately erode its structures. Russia exerts a strong influence on the Czech Republic by non-military means, including disinformation and propaganda, the activities of secret services, and penetration of its economy and specifically its energy sector. The article aims to answer the question about the role of Russian disinformation and propaganda in the context of Russian influence in the Czech Republic. The role of Russian disinformation and propaganda and how Russia influences Czechia is extensively analysed. The main hypothesis is that Russia treats the Czech Republic as a key state for espionage and disinformation activities and as a zone of influence, undermining the sovereignty of the Czech Republic and the role of NATO and the EU.

Keywords

EN

Czech Republic; Russia; international relations; disinformation and propaganda; resilience

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek
• Journal: Polish Political Science Yearbook
• Year: 2024
• Issue: 1(53)
• Pages: 145-166

Dates

published

2024

Contributors

author

Andrzej Jacuch

• Military University of Technology (Poland)

• https://orcid.org/0000000310136107

References

• Audit Národní Bezpečnosti. (2016). Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, Prague.
• Baqués Quesada, J., & Colom Piella, G. (2021). Russian Influence in the Czech Republic as a Grey Zone Case Study. Politics in Central Europe, 17(1).
• Cohen, A. (1997). The “Primakov Doctrine”: Russia’s Zero-Sum Game with the United States. Heritage Foundation.
• Czech Republic Profile. (2021). Stratfor. USA.
• Čapková, K. (2020). Refugees from Nazi Germany in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. In W. Borodziej, & J. von Puttkamer (Eds.), Immigrants and Foreigners in Central and Eastern Europe during the Twentieth Century. Routledge.
• Daniel, J., & Eberle, J. (2021). Speaking of hybrid warfare: Multiple narratives and differing expertise in the ‘hybrid warfare’ debate in Czechia. Cooperation and Conflict, 56(4), 432–453.
• Darczewska, J. (2015). Diabeł tkwi w szczegółach. Wojna informacyjna w świetle Doktryny Wojennej Rosji. Punkt Widzenia OSW, 50.
• Davis, G. D., & Slobodchikoff, M. O. (2019). Cultural Imperialism and the Decline of the Liberal Order: Russian and Western Soft Power in Eastern Europe. Lexington Books.
• Eckhardt, I. (2020, May). Jurisdictional Risk: The Czech Republic. Dow Jones.
• Filipec, O. (2019). Towards a Disinformation Resilient Society? The Experience of the Czech Republic. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: an Interdisciplinary Journal, 11(1).
• Galeotti, M. (2014). The ‘Gerasimov Doctrine’ and Russian Non-Linear War. Moscow’s Shadows Blog.
• Galeotti, M. (2016). Hybrid, ambiguous, and non-linear? How new is Russia’s ‘new way of war’? Small Wars & Insurgencies, 27(2), 282–301.
• Galeotti, M. (2017). Crimintern: How the Kremlin Uses Russia’s Criminal Networks in Europe. European Council on Foreign Relations. Policy Brief.
• Galeotti, M. (2018). I’m Sorry for Creating the ‘Gerasimov Doctrine’. Foreign Policy.
• Galeotti, M. (2019). Russian Political War, Moving Beyond the Hybrid. Imprint Routledge.
• Gliwa, S., & Olech, A. K. (2020). Polish-Czech Relations and Russian Disinformation, Attempts to Disturb them. Institute of New Europe.
• Gregor, M. (2019). Czech Republic. In O. Eibl, & M. Gregor (Eds.), Thirty Years of Political Campaigning in Central and Eastern Europe (pp. 97–113). Palgrave Macmillan.
• Gregor, M., & Mlejnková, P. (2021). Facing Disinformation: Narratives and Manipulative Techniques Deployed in the Czech Republic. Politics in Central Europe, 17(3), 541–564.
• Hanzlová, R. (2019, May 27). Public Opinion on the Czech Republic’s Membership in the European Union. CVVM.
• Helmus, T. C., Bodine-Baron, E., Radin, A., Magnuson, M., Mendelsohn, J., Marcellino, W., Bega, A., & Winkelman, Z. (2018). Russian Social Media Influence – Understanding Russian Propaganda in Eastern Europe. Rand Corporation.
• Hladík, R., Macková, A., Štětka, V., & Zápotocký, J. (2018). Who is afraid of the platforms? Adoption of and strategies for use of social media by politicians in the Czech Republic. In P. Surowiec, & V. Štětka (Eds.), Social Media and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge.
• Holzer, J., & Mareš, M. (Eds.) (2019). Czech Security Dilemma: Russia as a Friend or Enemy? Springer.
• Jacobs, A., & Lasconjarias, G. (2015). NATO’s Hybrid Flanks, Handling Unconventional Warfare in the South and the East. Research Division – NATO Defense College, Rome, No. 112.
• Jacuch, A. (2020). Countering Hybrid Threats: Resilience in the EU and NATO’s Strategies. The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, 1.
• Jamný, D. (2021, July). Interview with the President of the Czechoslovak Ocean Shipping Group.
• Janda, J. (2017). Policy Shift Overview: How the Czech Republic became one of the European leaders in countering Russian disinformation. European Values Think-Tank.
• Janda, J., Krejčí, M., & Víchová, V. (2018). The role of the Kremlin’s influence and disinformation in the Czech presidential elections. European Values.
• Janda, J., & Víchová, V. (2017). The Kremlin’s hostile influence in the Czech Republic: The state of play. In A. K. Piekarska (Ed.), Report: Disinformation in CEE. The Warsaw Institute Review No 3.
• Janda, J., Víchová, V., & Vejvodová, P. (2017). The Russian connections of far-right and paramilitary organisations in the Czech Republic, Political Capital, Policy Research and Consulting Institute, Budapest.
• Kokot, M. (2016). Czesi powołują rządowy zespół do walki z rosyjską propagandą. “Zagrożenie dezinformacją”, Gazeta Wyborcza.
• Kratochvíl, P., & Kuchyňková, P. (2010). Russia in the Czech Foreign Policy, in Kořan M. et al., eds., Czech Foreign Policy in 2007–2009. Analysis, Prague, pp. 196–212.
• Krejčí, M. (2017). The ins and outs of the Czech disinformation community. New Eastern Europe.
• Kremlin Influence Index, Media Sapiens. (2017). http://osvita.mediasapiens.ua/content/files/dm_iik_engl_pravka-compressed.pdf
• Kremlin Watch Report. https://www.kremlinwatch.eu
• Kuczyńska-Zonik, A. (2020). ‘Propaganda, Disinformation, Strategic Communication – How To Improve Cooperation In Cee Region? ‘, Bulletin of Lviv Polytechnic National University. Series: Journalistic sciences, SJS, Volume 4.
• Kučerová, I. (2015, January), Geopolitics of Central Europe – A Historical View, Annales Universitatis Apulensis. Series Historica.
• Lexmann, M. (2017, December 11). IRI Expert Tackles Russian Disinformation in Visegrád Insights, The International Republican Institute.
• MacFarquhar, N. (2016, August 28). A Powerful Russian Weapon: The Spread of False Stories. New York Times.
• Majić, M. (2021). Lessons Learned From The Czech Experience In Fighting Disinformation For The Western Balkans, Balkans Watch Report.
• Mareš, M., & Rechtik, M. (2021). Russian Disinformation Threat: Comparative Case Study Of Czech And Slovak Approaches, Journal Of Comparative Politics, vol. 14, no. 1.
• Mareš, M., & Mlejnková, P. (2021). Propaganda and Disinformation as a Security Threat. In: Challenging Online Propaganda and Disinformation in the 21st Century, Eds. Gregor, M., Mlejnková, P., Palgrave Macmillan.
• Morozov, A. (2020, January). They are Convinced that Russia Should Follow Guerrilla Tactics, EUVSDISINFO.
• NATO Website. (2022). NATO’s response to hybrid threats.
• Ogrodnik, Ł. (2019, December 16). Complications in the Czech Republic’s Relations towards Russia. Bulletin PISM, 179(1425).
• Pszczel, R. (2022, January 9). Interview with the former Head, NATO Information Office in Moscow (2010–2017).
• Romea. (2019, October 31). Czech counterintelligence disrupted Russian hacker spies and Hezbollah network, warns ultra-right targeting of Muslims could contribute to radicalisation. Romea.cz.
• Rumer, E. (2019). The Primakov (Not Gerasimov) Doctrine in Action, CEIP.
• Syrovátka, J. (2021). Civil Society Initiatives Tackling Disinformation: Experiences of Central European Countries. In: Challenging Online Propaganda and Disinformation in the 21st Century, Gregor, M., Mlejnková, P. (eds), Palgrave Macmillan.
• Topuria, R. (2020). Russia’s Weapon of Words in Numbers. Evolution of Russian Assertive (Dis)Information Actions: Comparative Analysis of the Cases of Russo-Georgian War 2008 & Annexation of Crimea 2014, „Ante Portas – Security Studies”, No 2(15).
• Vulnerability Index. (2017). GLOBSEC Policy Institute.
• Герасимов, В. (2013, February 26). Ценность науки в предвидении, Новые вызовы требуют переосмыслить формы и способы ведения боевых действи. Военно-промышленный курьер, 8(476) [Gerasimov, V. (2013, February 26). The Value of Science Is in the Foresight: New Challenges Demand Rethinking the Forms and Methods of Carrying out Combat Operations. Voyenno-Promyshlennyy Kurier, 8(476)].
• Шушков, Г. М., & Сергеев И. В. (2016). Концептуальные основы информационной безопасности Российской Федерации // Актуальные вопросы научной и научно-педагогической деятельности молодых ученых: сборник научных трудов III, Всероссийской заочной научно-практической конференции (23.11.2015–30.12.2015 г., Москва) / под общ. ред. Е.А. Певцовой; редколл.: Е.А. Куренкова и др. – М.: ИИУ МГОУ [Shushkov, G. M., & Sergeev, I. V. (2016) Conceptual Foundations of Information Security of the Russian Federation. In E. A. Pevtsova (Ed.), Actual issues of scientific and scientific-pedagogical activity of young researchers: Collection of scientific papers of the III, All-Russian extramural scientific-practical conference (23.11.2015–30.12.2015, Moscow). Moscow State Regional University].

Identifiers

DOI

10.15804/ppsy202250

Biblioteka Nauki

31342767