3 February 2024
PHOTO: Collage: Vladimir Putin, screenshot/YoutTube; map of Alaska, public domain Facebook posts are spreading disinformation regarding Putin’s latest decree according to which Alaska, the Baltic countries, Tibet, and other territories that historically belonged to the USSR and Imperial Russia will be retrieved back. The fake news started from ESSA News (Poland), spread through the Balkans, […]
2 February 2024
Several disinformation narratives have prevailed this year in the Macedonian-language online space and media – from Ukraine’s “statehood being at stake” should the war continue, to the claim that Zelenskyy has lost popularity. The most consistent disinformation narrative, however, concerns the connection between Kyiv elites and Nazism – a narrative directly promoted by Putin and […]
31 January 2024
Photo: Government of North Macedonia Despite the inaccurate, inflammatory, and nationalistic articles online, North Macedonia’s government was not “toppled”, nor did “the Albanians, slowly but surely, seize the power”. The newly elected government is a so-called technical government, also known as a “Przhino government”, in accordance with the Przhino Agreement , signed in 2015. The […]
27 January 2024
Most of the anti-EU Kremlin disinformation in N. Macedonia originate abroad, both in Russia and in the West, and then arrive in the country through the social platforms and some through the internet media. Some of them are then adjusted to the local context, and the small number of disinformation pushing Kremlin narratives are native. […]
26 January 2024
The flow of Russian disinformation has become familiar – it starts in Russia, travels to Serbia, and from there, it spreads throughout the entire Western Balkans. In the following case, however, disinformation’s source is in Bulgaria. The avalanche of disinformation started with an episode of the Bulgarian show “Don’t Be Afraid with Vasil Vasilev” and […]
24 January 2024
Photo: A screenshot from the video The video shared in the post we are fact-checking does not show Chinese immigrants fleeing from Russia following Putin’s offer of citizenship to foreigners fighting for Russia. It shows people traveling from Russia for New Year’s holidays. The video appeared a few days before Putin’s Decree on 4 January, […]
24 January 2024
A post on a Russian blog which is someone’s personal opinion first made rounds in Bulgarian media and then in Macedonian media and social networks, with a special addition – a statement allegedly made by Putin regarding dividing Bulgaria. However, Putin has never made such a statement, writes Truthmeter.mk. Under the content-sharing agreement between Truthmeter.mk […]
19 January 2024
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could expand beyond the neighbouring countries, publishes dpa news agency. “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day – most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states,” Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in an article published on Friday. With […]
17 January 2024
Photo: A screenshot from the video A video featuring people donning Satanic costumes, masks, and makeup dancing and singing in Ukrainian is being used by the Russian propaganda apparatus to disinform the public. It is insinuated that it was recorded in Ukrainian church, thus making Ukraine out to be satanic and demonic. However, the video […]
13 January 2024
Photo: ukrinform.net Ukraine’s former Public Prosecutor, Yuriy Lutsenko, is spreading unconfirmed data regarding the number of killed and wounded Ukrainian troops. In fact, in his own statement he calls upon authorities in Ukraine to publish the accurate data of wounded soldiers, thereby tacitly admitting that his statement was not based on official data. Ukraine has […]
14 December 2023
Photo: Screenshot from the video in the FB post There is no relevant evidence in support of the video. According to the Centre for Strategic Communication established by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy on countering disinformation, the video is fake and fabricated. The fact is that Ukraine is not sending pregnant women […]
13 December 2023
Photo: Screenshot of the FB post The photograph in the post we are fact-checking was used by Russian media in 2007 in the context of reporting on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece at the time. Parts of the map posted belong to Greece and are marked as Western Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia, and Central […]
13 December 2023
Sergey Lavrov at the press conference in Skopje, 01.12.2023 Photo: Bojan Blazhevski, meta.mk The spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, was part of the Russian delegation at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Skopje. Her presence on the Russian plane forced Bulgaria to revoke the permission to fly over its territory. The […]
3 December 2023
Representatives of Levica on the celebration in Moscow on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Soviet Pioneers Photo: Official Levica’s FB page A large part of the public in North Macedonia already perceives Levica (The Left) as a pro-Russian party, deeply embedded in the Kremlin propaganda machinery. The party uses […]
1 December 2023
Bujar Osmani, the current Chairman of the OSCE and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, said today that the Russian Federation is a factor of destabilization in the Western Balkans region. Unlike the US and EU support for N.Macedonia and the entire region, Russia does not play the identical role in the Western Balkans, […]
1 December 2023
Written speech and disputes with journalists comprised Sergey Lavrov’s tactics in the press conference; Photo: Meta.mk Russia turned today’s press conference of Sergei Lavrov into a propagandist theater play in the heart of Skopje, wishing to overshadow the last day and the conclusions of the OSCE Ministerial Council’s meeting. Even before the press conference of […]
30 November 2023
Harsh condemnations of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and Russia’s blockade of the OSCE operations were voiced by the speakers at the beginning of the OSCE Ministerial Council today in Skopje. They sent a message that the Russian aggression against Ukraine violates the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe from […]
30 November 2023
North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski before the start of the OSCE Ministerial Council that is held in Skopje, said that he would not meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. He noted that each country in its own way sends a message about Russia’s unjustified aggression against Ukraine. Kovachevski hopes that important decisions will […]
29 November 2023
From the address of Pia Kauma, the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Photo: Meta.mk Democracy is declining in countries where there is no room for civil society activism. We are witnessing an alarming number of armed conflicts, in the last year we have been witnessing how Russia has been brutal towards Ukraine and destroyed […]
29 November 2023
Photo Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani welcomed the decision that paves the way for Malta to become the next chairman of the OSCE in 2024, which overcame the crisis faced by the organization and represents a […]
