Securing Democracy Dispatch

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“TeleSUR provides a proxy for Chinese and Russian propaganda to enter Latin America with a veneer of credibility.” Watch Senior Investigative Research Officer Peter Benzoni explain how the Venezuelan state media outlet has made itself a “media vassal” for likeminded, authoritarian allies in this GMF explainer.

As Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “continues to tow a pro-Ukraine line and find her footing abroad … it is no coincidence that Meloni’s country remains on the receiving end of Russia’s foreign interference and information manipulation”, Program Coordinator Louis Savoia writes.

Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• Pentagon Leaks: Russian state media supported US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after it was revealed that he had used a personal phone to share information with family members about US strikes in Yemen. TASS echoed Hegseth’s suggestion that President Donald Trump’s political opponents were “stirring the pot” around the recent Pentagon reshuffle to “create a problem for the president” and disrupt his agenda. Zvezda News claimed that dismissed Pentagon employees spread “fake news” about the scandal, while RT amplified Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell’s claim that the “Trump-hating media” was trying to smear Hegseth. RT’s Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan also speculated that National Public Radio’s CEO, Katherine Maher, could be involved in “the Pete Hegseth saga”, suggesting that it was part of a “deep state” conspiracy to push the United States toward war with Iran.
• Ukraine Ceasefire Negotiations: Simonyan welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to “move on” from ceasefire negotiations if there was no agreement in the coming days and suggested Russia would also “move on” near Pokrovsk, Ukraine, alluding to a possible new offensive. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev agreed that Russia “would figure it out faster” if the United States and EU walked away from negotiations. RT revealed that Trump’s peace proposal includes a guarantee that Ukraine would not join NATO, recognition of Russian control of Crimea, removal of all US sanctions, as well as energy cooperation between the United States and Russia. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made clear that he would refuse to recognize Russian control of Crimea, Lenta.ru amplified Trump’s conclusion that Zelenskyy’s decision would be detrimental for negotiations and that Kyiv should strike a peace deal before “losing the whole country in a couple of years”. 

The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week: 

• Trump’s Tariffs: For the third week running, US tariffs on Chinese imports remained the main story covered by PRC diplomats and state media. The PRC Consulate in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and CGTN Europe relayed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement that Beijing is “not afraid to fight”. The PRC Embassy in the United States implied that the US policy was tantamount to playing poker, China News portrayed the United States as a tantrum-prone toddler, and a pro-PRC commentator mocked the Trump administration’s “flip flop after flip flop”. CGTN asked whether the United States was headed “toward economic isolation”, the PRC ambassador to India penned an op-ed hailing growing PRC-India trade, and a spokesperson for the MFA contrasted China’s low tariffs on ASEAN to “sweeping” US tariffs on the region.
• Pro-Kremlin Neutrality: PRC state media amplified Russia’s announcement of an Easter truce in Ukraine, with the Global Times claiming the initiative is “drawing global attention”. Xinhua then relayed the Russian Defense Ministry’s accusations that Ukraine had breached the ceasefire, while CGTN Europe quoted Zelenskyy denouncing the arrangement as a “pretense”. On April 23, China Daily covered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to negotiate with Ukraine, an offer the Global Times described as “a positive gesture” gaining “wide attention”. PRC state media also showed Putin welcoming hostages released by Hamas and calling Elon Musk “a rare visionary”. CGTN Europe broadcast Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s accusations that the EU “wants to revive the European ideology of Nazism”.

Russian influence campaign targets Moldova with fake French government content: The pro-Russian influence campaign Matryoshka disseminated a fake video purportedly released by Viginum, the French government’s online foreign interference watchdog, that claimed evidence of an influence campaign on TikTok in favor of Moldovan President Maia Sandu. The network also spoofed a French newspaper’s cover page and spread falsified French and Romanian-language videos that accused Sandu’s government of corruption and promotion of “non-traditional values”. Open-Source Intelligence Analyst Larissa Doroshenko tells the Dispatch, “Moldova scheduled parliamentary elections for September 28 last week, giving an official start for both domestic political campaigning—and foreign interference. These elections will confirm or disrupt Moldova’s integration in the EU, raising the stakes for Russia, which seeks to maintain its influence in this post-Soviet republic. Moldovan diasporas in Europe helped to tip the scale toward EU integration during last year’s referendum and presidential elections, so this messaging likely targets Moldovan citizens in Francophone countries. Hiding behind reputable organizations, such as Viginum or La Tribune, foreign actors sow doubt with their speculative interpretation of real-life events. Such messaging confuses voters and breeds distrust toward news media and government institutions.”

In Case You Missed It

• The European Commission banned meetings with organizations that lobby on Huawei’s behalf after allegations that the Chinese company bribed several EU lawmakers.
• The US government cancelled more than 400 National Science Foundation grants, many of which focused on combating information manipulation and deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence.
• A US federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to end funding for Voice of America and some other outlets under the US Agency for Global Media.
• The Philippines’ National Security Council accused the PRC of paying local Philippine companies to create hundreds of inauthentic social media accounts and spread messages critical of President Ferdinand Marcos ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

Amid doubts, Rubio signals US might abandon Ukraine-Russia peace talks. Managing Director David Salvo quoted in Scripps News

Two years after rail disaster ‘cover-up’, Greece is angrier than ever. Senior Manager for Europe and Fellow Vassilis Ntousas quoted in The Times

Ingérences étrangères : l’improbable cadeau de l’administration Trump à la Russie (Foreign interference: The Trump administration’s unlikely gift to Russia). Senior Fellow Bret Schafer quoted in FRANCE 24 (in French)

“The MIVD does not see the Russian threat against Europe decreasing but increasing, even after a possible end to the war in Ukraine. These are turbulent developments in international politics and in the alliance field. … The speed with which this is happening and the potential effect on our security is unprecedented.”

—Director and Vice Admiral Peter Reesink of MIVD, the Netherlands’ military intelligence agency, said in the agency’s annual report.

The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone.