This upcoming election could shape the geopolitical alignment of the central European nation of 5.4 million, determining whether it edges closer to Moscow. Slovakia, a member of both the EU and NATO, has long been in the crosshairs of disinformation campaigns.
Peter Duboczi, editor-in-chief of Infosecurity.sk, stated, "The disinformation ecosystem in Slovakia is now reaching its zenith", emphasizing that this election showcases the "full potential" of the impact of misinformation, with Slovak politicians frequently being the primary spreaders.
Expert analysis has identified three parties disseminating misleading pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian narratives: former Prime Minister Robert Fico's left-leaning Smer-SD party, the nationalist Republika party, and the Slovak National Party (SNS). According to recent polls, Fico is poised to reclaim the role of head of government, while both Republika and SNS are predicted to secure parliamentary seats.
Tomáš Krissak, a specialist at hybrid threat start-up Gerulata Technologies, remarked that these parties consistently "utilize political manipulation as a campaign strategy".
Reset, a London-based non-profit organization, documented over 365,000 election-related disinformation posts on Slovak social media platforms in the first half of September. They reported that over 15% originated from pro-Kremlin accounts.
In a reminiscent tactic employed by Donald Trump in the 2020 US election, Fico and Republika's Milan Uhrik have preemptively alerted voters about potential election fraud, at the same time failing to deliver solid evidence.
Fico has also propagated an unverified narrative that the 2014 Ukrainian conflict began with "fascists" from Ukraine assaulting Russian civilians, a claim frequently circulated by Moscow. On the other side of the political spectrum, Andrej Danko, the chief of the SNS, stated that the Russian-seized regions were not "historically Ukrainian" in past statements.
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Source: Euronews