Euractiv Bulgaria interviewed Ralitsa Kovacheva (Factcheck.bg), Marina Tsekova (Bulgarian national radio) and Rosen Bosev (AFP factcheck), who stressed that disinformation in the country is so widespread that it easily influences national politics.
The latest Eurobarometer survey showed that Bulgarians are significantly less likely to admit that they have been targeted by fake news than the EU average (Bulgaria – 51%, EU27 – 68%). At the same time, only 44% of Bulgarians doubt information from social media, compared to the average for the EU (60%).
Against this backdrop, only 11% of Bulgarians support providing military aid to Ukraine, with similar results in Slovakia and Cyprus. The three countries rank last, compared to a EU27 average of 25% and the highest level of support registered in Sweden (71%) and Finland (63%).
I lived in Bulgaria for a few years. This doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Despite being post-communist, Bulgaria's ties to Russia are still very strong. Due to the poverty in the country, most of the older population still looks fondly at both communism and Russia.
When you string people along for decades and still deny them entry to Schengen, are you actually surprised they are a bit alienated from the rest of you?
Entry into EU and Schengen is not a matter of time, it is a matter of meeting the requirements. Try voting for non-idiot, non-corrupt and non-far right politicians, so that they can work on implementing the requirements. Voting for Russia's puppets will prolong the time until accession, because they will not work on meeting the requirements.
And then when you satisfy the requirements, Austria or the Netherlands will change them to make sure you don't get in so that X right wing populist can placate Y régional election. This happened.
So, Putin stooges will then stand up and say that the European promise is all a lie. And they will be sounding reasonable, whereas the pro European ones will be looking like idiots who gave faith to a false promise.
Western Europeans have not treated the east Balkan countries fairly. This undermines the European project. I'm not saying anything bizarre.
Which requirements exactly? Taking in Austria’s immigrants so their populists can brag that they’ve saved their country?
The requirements have been met a long time ago, and so says the European Commission. I guess Austria is the only enlightened in the whole EU to determine that Bulgaria and Romania are not ready.
Even as a strong believer in a united Europe, I can’t blame people getting eurosceptic, seeing how our supposed allies treat us.
If you dont like the EU, you are more likely to find anti EU posts on social media to be factual. If you like the EU more, you are more likely to find these posts to lie.
Hardly anyone validates the information. They just compare it to their current feelings about an issue. Move the feelings and you move the interpretation of the information, irrespective of whether specific pro- or anti-EU content was factual or not.
In so far i would also not conclude from these surveys, that Bulgarians are more likely to fall for propaganda or people from other EU countries to be less likely falling for it.