US experts: Russia exerts covert pressure on eastern European countries
A report from US private research groups shows that the governments of five eastern and central European countries are under pressure from the Russian Federation, threatening their pro-Western orientation. The US experts have been conducting a 16-month long joint investigation with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is based in Washington, and the Centre for Democracy Studies (CDS), based in Bulgaria.
The researchers concluded that Russia has organized a campaign of covert economic and political pressure on Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Serbia and Slovakia. The experts found that Moscow recruited popular politicians, strived to dominate energy markets and sabotaged anti-corruption measures.
“In several countries, Russia’s influence has become so comprehensive and widespread that it threatened their national security, their pro-Western orientation and Euro-Atlantic stability,” the report says. The report also mentioned that the ultimate goal of Russia’s campaign is to manipulate and discredit the Western liberal-democratic model and to break-up Trans-Atlantic partnerships.
The report was published under the title “The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe.”