DISINFORMATION

The freeze is coming from the Kremlin, with Fico and co. lending a hand

Infosecurity.sk provides an overview of disinformation trends that have been on the rise in the last two weeks:

• On May 9, 2025, Robert Fico finally attended the celebrations of victory over fascism in Moscow. In addition to another exchange of messages with Kaja Kallas, he tried to portray his visit as an international success for Slovakia's sovereign policy.
• There was no shortage of gratitude to the distorted image of the liberators, handshakes with war criminals, and the creation of a new narrative about the Iron Curtain. Of course, all this was accompanied by a hefty dose of historical ignorance and servility.
• Much of the disinformation focused on smearing Ukrainian President Zelensky. In addition to accusations of fascism and dictatorship, there were also narratives that the leaders of the so-called coalition of the willing enjoyed their trip to Kyiv while high on drugs. These were taken directly from Russian channels.
• The EU was again attacked for moral decline, its LGBTQ+ agenda, and green policies. For far-right MEPs from the Republika movement, these are pointless issues. The priority should be protecting traditional values, deporting migrants, and returning to peace projects (in other words, capitulating to Russian interests).

Almost there…

Weeks of preparation led up to this moment. Both administrative and propaganda efforts were made. Prime Minister Robert Fico was accompanied at the celebrations marking the victory over fascism not only by the autocratic leaders in attendance, but also by loyal party members who had no problem jumping on the bandwagon of pro-Russian disinformation. The visit was attended by Ľuboš Blaha, Erik Kaliňák, Richard Glück, and others.

The truth remains, however, that in terms of communication and marketing, it was Fico who managed to squeeze the most out of this topic. With his visit to the Kremlin, he is essentially doing three things: first, he is revealing his geopolitical inclination towards the East; second, he is diverting attention from his failures on the domestic political scene; and third, through historical revisionism and the adoption of Russian propaganda narratives, he is legitimizing Kremlin imperialism and aggression.

Even before his visit, Fico had been quite intensively (and more than usual) spreading narratives and revised historical "facts" from the Soviet propaganda handbook. We reported on these in previous reports: from narratives about immortal Soviet liberators and fighters against fascism, we moved on to assumptions about the presence of fascism and Russophobia in the EU.

During a press conference on May 4, Fico reinforced his claims of respect and gratitude to the Red Army liberators. This is the prime argument the PM used to explain his visit to Moscow. Of course, there would be nothing wrong with this if Fico did not ignore other historical facts that do not fit into the mosaic. In this particular statement, he thanked the nation "that played a decisive role in defeating Hitler in 1941-1945, the nation that suffered the most." The PM carefully leaves out the years 1939 to 1941, when the USSR helped start World War II (by concluding the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, or Hitler-Stalin Pact of Non-Aggression, with a secret clause on the division of spheres of influence in Europe and the division of Poland). At the end of the video, Fico accuses the journalist who questioned him of being paid by Soros. The punchline matches the story.

In another speech, Fico mentions efforts to "build a new iron curtain and call for endless wars." If you thought that Fico was finally criticizing Moscow, you would be greatly mistaken. No, he addresses the West, which he says is doing "everything to erase the historical truth from our minds." According to Fico, the liberators came exclusively from the East. Once again, he focuses only on the years 1941 to 1945. He completely ignores what preceded and followed them. Fico continues his distortion of history by mentioning that Winston Churchill was the architect of the Iron Curtain.

A little history lesson for the PM – although Churchill did not coin the term "Iron Curtain," his speech in Fulton on March 5, 1946, made it famous and brought it to the attention of the wider Western public. It was then that he uttered the sentence: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." With this statement, Churchill aptly described a reality that was only just beginning to unfold at the time – the violent takeover of Central and Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union under Stalin. This process led to the loss of civil rights, isolation, and the division of the continent into two spheres of influence. The Iron Curtain was therefore not the result of Western rhetoric, but the consequence of specific actions taken by Moscow. It became a repressive, ideological and geopolitical border created by Stalin's regime, which divided Europe for more than four decades.

For the sake of completeness, it is indeed important to honour the fallen soldiers of the Red Army who participated in the liberation of what is now Slovak territory during World War II. But let us not forget that today's Russia is not the Soviet Union of that time. And let us not forget that the Soviet Union did not liberate Czechoslovakia out of goodwill, but out of pragmatic interests that then turned into 40 years of totalitarianism. The liberators became occupiers, and today's Russia is a perpetrator of aggression and genocide. This other side of the coin is deliberately omitted from the communications of Fico and other propagandists. At the same time, the historical legacy of the Red Army and the victory over fascism is being instrumentalized to justify and legitimize outright aggression and war crimes in Ukraine.

Welcome to Moscow, Mr. Fico!

Fico's delegation managed to land in Moscow, despite the Baltic states banning the Slovak prime minister from flying over their airspace. Fico described the situation as "a deliberate attempt to thwart my visit to Moscow." MEP Ľuboš Blaha, who was traveling with the prime minister, came out with the statement that "no fascist remnants will stop us. Not from the Baltic states, not from Brussels."

On the day of his arrival in Moscow, Fico also responded to the words of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, who accused him of being on the wrong side of history. In his post, Fico clearly showed that he is completely detached from the reality in which the rest of the EU exists. He went to Moscow to pay tribute to the soldiers of the Red Army and does not understand what "these brave people have in common with the current international situation." (These people have nothing in common with it, but the regime organizing celebrations is responsible for the current disruption of the international order.) Fico also said that Kallas cannot criticize a sovereign PM like him. He claims to have a "constructive approach to the entire European agenda." (His visits to Moscow completely contradict this statement.) Last but not least, Fico distanced himself from the so-called new Iron Curtain policy.

It is likely that the metaphor of the iron curtain will be a new update to the narrative accusing the West of ignoring Russia's "peaceful tendencies" and prolonging the war in Ukraine, and will be a frequently discussed topic in the coming weeks. Fico also used this narrative in his first video from Moscow.

The prime minister boasted about his visit to Moscow in several posts. On behalf of Slovakia as a whole (despite the fact that a significant part of the public disagrees with this hijacking of sovereignty to the east), he thanked the Soviet liberators, saying that the visit was also a response to those who "want to violently change history in the name of current geopolitical goals."

At times, Fico appeared downright servile during bilateral talks with Vladimir Putin (or Xi Jinping), but he tried to sell Slovakia's role to his audience as an international success and a sign of sovereignty. According to Fico, Slovakia has "stood alongside world powers as an equal and respected partner, thanks in particular to its clear, transparent positions and values." The truth is that clear positions are lacking (perhaps they are clear to Moscow?), the values are vague, and Slovakia is becoming a useful servant in undermining European unity.

In another article, Fico writes that the trip "to Moscow brought diplomatic recognition to Slovakia at the highest global level." He also admits that he rejected the so-called "iron curtain policy, which is effectively emerging between Europe and the Russian Federation" even before Putin. He wanted to "reach out across this iron curtain to offer cooperation." The prime minister lived up to his reputation even after returning to Bratislava. At a press conference, he immediately lashed out at the media, the opposition, and non-governmental organizations, which he claimed were unable to accept Slovakia's successes and harbored only "blind hatred" for Fico.

Several other well-known actors on the disinformation scene also participated in promoting Fico's visit to Moscow. For example, we have selected the quasi-media outlet Slobodný vysielač (The Free Broadcaster), the far-right figure Miro Heredoš, and the highly pro-Kremlin page Mr. Slovak, which, among other comments, calls for Slovakia to join the newly proposed BRICS currency. The range of actors who welcomed Fico's participation in the propaganda celebrations was diverse, which only underscores the advanced stage of development of the Russian fifth column in Slovakia.

Good old Zelensky. And… cocaine?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been facing attacks from the disinformation scene for a long time. Immediately after the war, he was supposed to flee Ukraine, eventually becoming a drug-addicted dictator and fascist. There have also been accusations of corruption and provoking a nuclear conflict. Kremlin propaganda has many layers, which is hardly surprising in this case. After all, Zelensky is the leader of a country that has managed to resist the aggression of the Russian regime.

That is why we have looked at this topic over the past two weeks using the Gerulata Juno analytical tool. We used it to analyze the most popular posts on Slovak Facebook that contained the keywords "Zelensky" or "Kyiv." We excluded posts that did not contain problematic narratives from the list. We then evaluated the posts based on the total number of interactions (the sum of all reactions, comments, and shares).

The post with the most interactions belongs to the leader of the far-right movement Republika. In it, Milan Uhrík attacks the EU and Ursula von der Leyen. He claims that she shouted fascist slogans on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. This is how he described the Ukrainian greeting "Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!", which Uhrík (and other disinformers) continuously decontextualize and label as fascist, following the example of Russian propaganda. In the video, the chairman of Republika says that "Europe is calling for peace and commemorating the victory over fascism, and she [von der Leyen] is shouting that Ukraine and Zelensky should be brought into the union among us." It is true that during World War II, the salute was also used by members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), led by Stepan Bandera, but the comparison to the current situation and president Zelensky is far-fetched. Uhrík also omits key historical facts – the salute has deeper roots, it was used during the Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917–1921, and later became a rallying slogan in connection with the Ukrainian revolution (2013) and the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas (2014). Propagandists tend to attribute this greeting exclusively to Stepan Bandera and denigrate it for one key reason: historically, it is primarily a slogan that unites the Ukrainian people against oppression and occupation by the USSR, or today's Russia.

In the second post, which was published by Miro Heredoš, the unsuccessful far-right politician shared one of the latest narratives of Russian propaganda, which accuses the leaders of the "coalition of the willing" of drug addiction. Heredoš joined a number of actors offering "incredible footage from a train carriage heading to Kiev for a meeting of the coalition of the willing." According to Heredoš (and the Russian disinformation narrative), European leaders are participating in a "cocaine party," which is supposed to underscore their debauchery and moral decline. The false claims first appeared on pro-Russian social media and were then picked up by Kremlin officials (e.g., spokeswoman Maria Zakharova). The claims come at a time when the Kremlin has intensified its efforts to marginalize European efforts to support Ukraine. It is no coincidence that they are also being spread by actors similar to Heredoš – not because they cannot tell a handkerchief from a bag of cocaine, but because they have been very willing to share Russian propaganda and disinformation narratives for some time now.

The third post was published by Erik Kaliňák. It is a recording of an interview with a MEP on TA3 in which Kaliňák was asked whether he had changed his opinion about Russia as a reliable partner. At the beginning of March, the MEP representing the SMER-SSD party said that "if the Russians got to Uzhhorod, we would finally have a reliable neighbor." Kaliňák did not answer the question and tried to divert attention with another controversial quote, accusing Zelensky of "serving without a democratic mandate," thus returning to the issue that no presidential elections were held in Ukraine in 2024. The disinformation scene often portrays Zelensky as an undemocratic ruler or even a dictator because of this situation. It deliberately ignores the fact that martial law has been declared in Ukraine due to Russian aggression and the ongoing war. The practical implementation of elections would not even be possible due to the continuing Russian attacks. At the same time, actors such as Kaliňák are deliberately playing into the hands of Russian propaganda, which is trying to undermine the credibility of the Ukrainian government and president in the eyes of the Western public.

Another post was published by Anna Belousovová. This time, the national politician, who has been forced into political retirement, reminds the public that "European democracy is beginning to take on the flavor of dictatorship." With poetic words and the rest of her post, she tries to paint a picture in which actors such as the German extremist party AfD face "unfair" pressure—not because of their obvious far-right and pro-Russian tendencies, but allegedly because they pose a challenge to their political rivals. Belousovová likened the situation to the sanctions imposed by president Zelensky in early May. One of the people affected on the list of entities cooperating with the Kremlin was former presidential adviser Oleksii Arestovych. Arestovych left Ukraine in 2023, when he moved to the US. Given that Aristovych had previously hinted at his political ambitions (the possibility of competing with Zelensky in the presidential race), Zelensky's latest moves are, for the disinformation scene, clear proof that he is a dictator who is getting rid of his opponents. The propagation of narratives that strikingly resemble Russian propaganda, in which Arestovych calls for Ukraine to surrender its territory, is no longer mentioned by actors such as Belousovová.

The last post in the list was published by former advisor to the prime minister Eduard Chmelár. Among other things, he uses the same rhetoric as Anna Belousovová in the post above. According to Chmelár, Zelensky's imposition of sanctions on Arestovich means that "a regime that is moving towards autocracy is ruling Ukraine." Zelensky is allegedly an illegitimate usurper of power who, in order to maintain his own position of power, has "handed Ukraine over to the United States as a colony." Chmelár is, of course, referring to the agreement on mineral resources that both sides signed in early May to secure military support. The same patterns are repeated as in previous posts – Russian aggression is ignored and Zelensky is portrayed as a villain. If we leave aside the proxy reasons, the root cause of this characterization is that the Ukrainian president is defending his country against Russian imperialism. According to Chmelár, anyone who "supports Zelensky is supporting an autocrat who has handed Ukraine over to the United States as a colony in order to maintain his own position of power". He says he would not want to "take such a moral burden upon his conscience". It is good (ironically) that Chmelár is able to morally cope with his support for Russia.

Nonsense and hollow propaganda about the EU

What kind of report on disinformation narratives would it be if it did not contain attacks on the EU? Once again, these came mainly from politicians who, although sitting in the European Parliament (EP), are primarily involved in recording promotional videos full of falsehoods and propaganda.

Milan Mazurek shared his speech in the EP on Facebook, in which he lashed out in all directions and accused European commissioners of "living off the backs of hard-working people." Among other things, he described the EU as an obstacle to innovation, naturally mentioning the Green Deal and other European efforts to tackle climate change. In another post, he accused the EU of spreading misleading propaganda about its support for the Green Deal.

He was referring to the display of posters in front of the EP headquarters, which he claimed were "all nonsense and empty propaganda that exploits simple emotions, and the EU is resorting to it only because more and more people are opening their eyes and understanding this nonsense." Although he did not intend it, Mazurek's first words aptly described his efforts on social media. He accuses the EU of using images of floods for emotional blackmail. Although fiery, Mazurek did not mention why the floods in Europe are becoming more intense. Nor did he mention that 94% of Europeans support measures against climate change. That would not fit into the narrative, of course.

We will stay with Mazurek and the posters thanks to a post in which the MEP for the far-right movement Republika shared his hateful views on the activities of the LGBTI+ community. According to Mazurek, he found a poster inviting people to a rainbow march in Brussels just a few steps away from the EP. For the extremist, this was enough of an impetus to launch into toxic rhetoric about the so-called rainbow agenda (or ideology), which he claims threatens Slovak children.

As if that weren't enough, Mazurek described this ordinary poster inviting people to a rainbow pride march as a tool to coerce people into participating in similarly "sick" activities. The MEP also failed to understand the purpose of the march, claiming that it is not "about any rights, equality or pride. It's just about disruption, perversion, nudism, and brainwashing the youngest children."

Mazurek's party leader, Milan Uhrík, shared a photo from a meeting with Éric Zemmour. The 66-year-old Frenchman is known not only for his journalism career but also for his far-right views and hatred of migrants. What Uhrík calls the uniting of patriotic forces in his post are actually meetings of hateful politicians who openly and unashamedly compare France to Africa or call for mass deportations.

In another post, Uhrík tries to scare people with a notion of new European taxes that are supposed to impoverish European citizens in favor of projects that, according to the MEP, "have failed so far." In addition to support for immigrants (e.g., refugees), he also included support for Ukraine into this cluster. He claims that these challenges should not be priorities to the EU. Supporting traditional values and efforts to reduce the gap between living standards in the West and in Slovakia should take the place. Just for the record, the Slovakia Program for 2021 to 2027 offers support from European funds amounting to almost €13 billion. The fact that Slovakia has used just over €420 million (3.28% of total EU resources) from the package as of February 2025 is not Brussels' fault.

In addition to far-right MEPs, the SMER-SSD party joined the attack on Brussels, accusing the EU on its official Facebook account of ceasing to be an instrument of peace. PM Fico used rhetoric that the EU "is betraying its own values" because it supposedly "supports Maidans, threatens the rule of law, replaces consensus with majority rule, and is moving away from its original purpose as a peaceful post-war project." The EU certainly deserves constructive criticism, but the words of some representatives of the ruling coalition in Slovakia, including its leader, are so similar to Russian propaganda that they rightly raise concerns that it is gradually becoming a geopolitical wedge deliberately undermining the unity of European integration.

Project Infosecurity.sk organized by Adapt Institute, which is supported by the Prague office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, continuously monitors the activities of both Slovak and foreign disinformation actors, but focuses mainly on the former. The project activities are built upon daily monitoring of emerging disinformation, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories in the online information space. This approach allows the analysts to identify disinformation posts and narratives that resonated with the public the most, as well as to find out where they originated, and how they spread and evolved on social media. The report takes the form of a bi-weekly summary of arising trends in the spread of malicious information content online. Based on that, Infosecurity.sk can inform the public about emerging and current trends in the field of disinformation, manipulation, and propaganda.