For pro-Kremlin media, the Eastern Partnership (EaP) has always been an “anti-Russian” and “anti-Belarusian” tool used “aggressively” by the European Union for malicious purposes: to exercise external control over Belarus; to damage Belarusian identity and to separate Belarus from Russia.
The main disinformation narratives in pro-Kremlin media say that “EaP” was behind the protesters against the results of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which were rigged. As claimed Sputnik Belarus, EaP had become the reason for “Western networks” to penetrate Belarus for almost all political events in the post-Soviet space, which the Kremlin did not like. In the recent period (a year and a half), since the fraudulent Belarusian elections in August 2020, pro-Kremlin media have continued to declare the Belarusian opposition as a “puppet of the West"and describe pro-democracy supporters as terrorists and Nazi.
Belarusian state media – a pro-Kremlin media double act
Until last year's elections, state media in Belarus, although skeptical and critical of the Eastern Partnership and the EU, had avoided such outrageous disinformation and propaganda. Now, however, the rhetoric of state media neatly aligns with that of pro-Kremlin media. The EU is allegedly involved in hybrid wars and color revolutions, is supporting Nazism (click here) in Belarus and is violating Belarusian sovereignty. In short, the Eastern Partnership is now being demonized just as vigorously in Belarusian state media as in Russian state-controlled media.
Hostility and disinformation towards and about the Eastern Partnership and the EU increased again after Belarus suspended its participation in the EaP in June 2021. According to Belarus Segodnya (see here), the source of the presidential administration, the goal of the EaP was to deprive Belarus of sovereignty:
"It became clear that the support of the so-called 'civil society' within the initiative (Eastern Partnership) turns into subversive activities aimed at overthrowing the Government, sponsoring destructive forces, which at the right moment, as if on command, begin to shake society."
According to a Belarusian official (see here) quoted by the same newspaper, the Eastern Partnership policy was pure bribery:
"Europe tried to corrupt Belarusian civil society. For example, we will give you $3 billion if you stop communicating with Russia and overthrow your president – this is not the height of cynicism, is it?"
But propaganda doesn't work: a decline in trust in state media
However, these disinformation narratives no longer have the reach they once had. Research suggests that a) state media is no longer the primary source of information for most people, and b) state media is only trusted by a minority of the population. A December 2020 poll (see here) found that Belarusian and Russian state television channels were the main sources of information for only 12.7 percent of Belarusians living in cities with over 20,000 inhabitants. Further, a survey in January 2021 (see here) with people in urban areas showed that state media was trusted by only 16.3 percent. Independent (online) media enjoyed the highest levels of trust at 49.5 percent, greater than levels of trust in the church.