Some weeks have passed since the elections to the European Parliament and there are several months to go until the US presidential elections on 5 November. There are many other elections during the next half year, including presidential elections and an EU referendum in Moldova on 20 October.
There is a sense of disillusion in the pro-Kremlin information ecosystem about the outcome of the European Parliament elections, the new European Commission that is taking shape, and about the new dynamics that Kamala Harris has added to the US presidential elections.
Here we look at how the elections are presented in the Kremlin information ecosystem.
The basic concept of elections is fraudulent
Let’s begin with a recent quote, promoted in a political comment piece on the Russian state network RT (Russia Today), which publishes globally: ‘Western propaganda has convinced us that elections are the result of fair competition and almost anyone can come to power as long as their ideas are supported by a sufficient number of people’.
The lengthy article dismisses elections as causing instability and the text is a hidden defence for the Kremlin’s deceptive trope, coined by Putin’s aide Vladislav Surkov, of ‘sovereign’ or ‘managed democracy’ with Putin as almost eternal ruler. The article, of course, also promotes the common Kremlin narrative of the imminent collapse of the EU and the West.
‘The European Parliament let down the voters’
In the Kremlin spin, far-right parties saw a successfully performance in the elections but they lost the struggle for influence in the European Parliament because of the other parties plotting against them. As a result, the ‘Patriots for Europe’ faction, which includes France’s Rassemblement National and Hungary’s Fidesz party, did not get significant responsibilities in the European Parliament. The implicit notion is that the political process in the parliament was somehow unfair when centrist parties used their majority to decide the leadership of parliamentary committees and voted together to approve Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission.
Well, that is how democracy works when the will of voters is translated into representative bodies.
The next European Commission: ‘Ursula von der Leyen is the road to militarisation’
After the Parliament’s confirmation of Ursula von der Leyen, the tabloid Kremlin mouthpiece Moskovsky Komsomolets assessed that we should stand by for ‘hate speech and malicious ravings’ by the new Commission President.
We highlight this quote by Putin’s spokesperson, Peskov: [Ursula von der Leyen’s speech confirmed] ‘European countries’ drive towards militarisation, fomenting tensions and confrontational methods in foreign policy’. All this was wrapped in another Kremlin classic, that of lost sovereignty: Elections or not, the EU is directed by the big evil in Washington, as Europe does not have, does not want and cannot develop a political identity independent from the US.
Most outlets in Russia describe the path of enhanced European defence and security as ‘aggressive and threatening to Russia’. No surprise, as every step by Moscow in its war of choice against Ukraine is presented as a ‘holy defence in the larger struggle of civilisation’.
The US presidential election – all the untold
The US is so important to Russia’s self-perception. Where did wealthy Russians use to send their children for education and professional development second after the UK? To prestigious US universities and institutions. The latest US gadgets and mass-cultural products are still adored by large swathes of Russians including the elite, even if public opinion polls suggest a negative view of official US policy.
On the surface, Russian officials and Kremlin affiliates pretend that it does not matter whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins. ‘Relations will remain bad’ was the message by Putin’s aide Patrushev and by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova; Russian Security Council Deputy Chair and former President Medvedev added that the US President is nothing more than decoration while the ‘Deep State’ runs all the processes in the US.
Conspiracies galore
The ‘Deep State’ narrative together with all the conspiracies is again gaining traction in Russian state outlets and has ballooned since President Biden announced his resignation as candidate in the presidential race. The Sputnik network, which publishes in more than 25 languages on social media channels, claims that the ‘Deep State’ kept Biden in power just for the war with Russia but then dumped him.
Contrary to Kremlin claims, in reality, President Biden came to the conclusion himself that his candidature was untenable. Second, neither the US nor ‘the West’ is in a war with Russia. Russia started a war against Ukraine as an act of imperial aggression.
Vice President Kamala Harris is claimed by the Kremlin spin-doctors to be a ‘Deep State’ figurehead, without agency. Or Soros and the Clintons are Kamala Harris’ apparent puppeteers. We could continue down the rabbit hole with similar disinformation narratives: Joe Biden’s withdrawal shows that the US is ruled by Deep State, that groups in the shadow dictated the outcome of the presidential elections, that global elites overthrew Donald Trump, or that America is ruled by an illegitimate tyrannical regime which stole the election in 2020.
Cutting through all the Kremlin noise today, the only reality is that Moscow pins all its hopes on a change of political direction in the US and on reduced US support for Ukraine.
See our series of articles on elections and other good products(opens in a new tab) countering foreign disinformation and manipulation. Don’t be deceived.
Article and pictures first time published on the EUvsDisinfo web page. Prepared for publication by volunteers from the Res Publica - The Center for Civil Resistance.
