By EUvsDisinfo
Ahead of the German federal elections later this month, pro-Kremlin outlets employ the usual manipulative narratives including tropes like ‘Germany is facing economic and social ruin’, ‘Germans are desperate for change’ and ‘only parties that promise such change will do well’.
The messaging is, as always, simple. Built around elements which would resonate with some people, but embellished with falsities and based on the same few key narratives the Kremlin has peddled for years: Elites vs People, Lost Sovereignty, Threatened Values, Imminent Collapse.
Incidentally, the Kremlin’s information manipulation operation sought to employ much of the same playbook ahead of the European elections in June 2024.
Alternative for reality
EUvsDisinfo analysed more than 770 German-language articles about the elections published by pro-Kremlin outlets since the beginning of December 2024, plus plenty more in the English and Russian languages.
Coverage of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) and its leader, Alice Weidel, was consistently positive. The pro-Kremlin outlets used every opportunity to praise the party’s policies, and stressed that it reflected the prevailing mood in today’s Germany in ways established parties are no longer able to.
It’s the Elites, stupid!
Some articles were neutral and simply cited polls suggesting that Weidel was the most popular candidate for Chancellor. Others were more openly partisan. Russian state news agency TASS quoted an RT commentator as saying that ‘liberal elites’ had grown out of touch with the people and by contrast, the AfD was gaining ground daily.
Each of these elements taken separately may not necessarily constitute disinformation. But when taken in summation, they seek to sway and manipulate the public perception of the prevailing mood ahead of the elections and thus may have an impact on the actual election results.
Russian state-controlled and other pro-Kremlin outlets extensively quoted Weidel’s comments, for example the claim that former Chancellor Angela Merkel ‘destroyed Germany with her policies’ by opening the country’s borders to migration in 2015 ‘without asking people’.
Such comments tie in with the ‘Elites vs People’ story, a narrative claiming that the ruling elites do not care about the interests of ordinary people. The narrative is as old as politics, but the pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets often deploy this narrative particularly ahead of elections as a means to drive wedges and exacerbate political polarisation.
Free speech as threated value
Another narrative frequently employed by the Kremlin spin doctors is that of ‘Threatened Values’. A value that seems to be particularly near and dear to the Kremlin’s heart in Germany is freedom of speech – even if media freedom in Russia is heavily curtailed.
The German language version of RT (Russia Today), a Kremlin influence operation that playacts journalism, claimed that German citizens face legal penalties for expressing critical views on migration policy. Germans might think they are free to express their opinion, the Russian propagandists insinuate, but in reality, they claim, there is a climate of fear, individuals are punished for dissenting opinions, and German democracy is in danger.
Chatting with Musk
A third narrative very often evoked by Kremlin-controlled outlets in relation to Europe is that of ‘Lost Sovereignty’, the idea that neither the EU nor the EU Member States’ governments are truly independent, but controlled by the United States, which is seen as the main protagonist to Russia.
Nobody should expect Kremlin influence operations to have consistent messaging. In fact, quite often the opposite is true as sowing confusion is a tactic. The pro-Kremlin content we analysed praised US billionaire Elon Musk for criticizing the German government’s supposed crackdown on freedom of speech and for inviting AfD leader Weidel to a conversation on his social media platform X on 9 January.
By inviting Weidel, Musk had ‘forced a public reckoning‘ and broken the ‘rules of European politics’, according to the raving coverage. His talk ‘triggered a broad public debate in Germany’. Accusations that his actions constituted election interference were called hypocritical.
No prosperity without Russian gas?
Where the pro-Kremlin outlets did perform as expected, however, was in their use of the ’Imminent Collapse‘ narrative. This claims that Germany is on the brink of economic catastrophe if not downright collapse, largely because of its ‘anti-Russia’ policies. RT wrote, for example, that Germany has shot itself in the knee economically by giving in to US pressure and cutting off its energy supply from Russia.
Some Russian political pundits argued that the collapse of the German government was a result of its ‘Russophobic policy… because the ruling party led the country into a deep crisis in all areas’.
Others suggested that ‘by aligning itself entirely with the US-led NATO strategy against Moscow, Germany has unwittingly sealed its economic fate’. German companies that had survived two World Wars did not survive the sanctions against Russia amidst Germany’s ‘dramatic de-industrialisation‘ caused by the policy of cutting Russian energy off.
And it’s also Ukraine, stupid!
Pro-Kremlin outlets also suggested their German readers a way to avoid collapse: Stop all aid and assistance to Ukraine and rebuild relations with Russia. This political goal of Moscow runs like a red line through most messaging to European audiences. Thus, the outlets suggested which party would be most likely to implement exactly this policy. One commentator asserted that Russia could work with the AfD to restore relations with Europe.
Another commentator said that the government’s backing of Ukraine’s war effort was ‘emblematic of a broader failure to prioritise domestic concerns‘ in Germany. Outlets in English and Russian gave much coverage to the head of the AfD in the Bavarian Parliament, calling for the immediate expulsion of all Ukrainian refugees in Germany.
RT’s sister in manipulation, the Sputnik network reported that delegates at the AfD party congress voted against condemning Russia for its ‘operation’ in Ukraine and noted that the party’s draft programme describes the conflict as a disruption of peace in Europe and envisions Ukraine as a neutral state, outside the EU and NATO.
What else we can expect from the sewer
The federal elections are less than a month away. What else can be expected to spill from the pro-Kremlin disinformation ecosystem?
After the EU Parliament elections in June 2024, we pointed out that, viewed from Moscow, elections are a scam and the very idea of free and fair competition just Western propaganda.
We showed how pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets targeted these elections by smearing leaders, sowing distrust; flooding the information space with rubbish, driving wedges wherever they can, projecting Russia’s own shortcomings onto the EU, and, finally, by dismissing the results.
A similar narrative trajectory may well play out before, while and after ballots are counted in Germany on 23 February.
Don’t be deceived.
By EUvsDisinfo
