FOI-R--3990--SE_reducerad

FOI-R--3990--SE
showed a propaganda film about Edgar Savisaar. 116 People are able to watch
Tsentr via satellite and cable in Estonia, but the channel itself is owned by
Moscow’s city administration. It is based in Moscow, does not have an office in
Estonia and does not have a local programme for Estonia’s Russian-speakers
either. The decision to show a propaganda film about the Estonian opposition
leader within days of the national elections is likely to have been taken in
Moscow.
In addition to the Russian channels, the Baltic Media Alliance channel Pervõi
Baltiiski Kanal (First Baltic Channel, PBK) has been closely associated with the
Centre Party. Oleg Samorodnij, the former correspondent of Komsomolskaya
Pravda, recently published a book on how the Kremlin is spreading its ideology
in Estonia using the media, including PBK. He suggests that the question of
whether the PBK supports the Estonian Centre Party is not that crucial, because it
is obvious that it does. Instead, he raises two sets of questions: Who coordinates
the activities, and how are they being coordinated between PBK and the Centre
Party Who made the decision that PBK will support the Centre Party and where
was it made 117 According to Samorodnij, “I don’t think that these decisions are
being made by PBK in Estonia; and I also don’t believe that decisions in Riga are
made by BMA. I think these decisions are made in Moscow”. 118
3.5 The Russian Media Presence and Its
Consequences
In Estonia, Estonians and non-Estonians live in different information spaces,
often with contrasting content. They receive their information from different
sources, in different languages and through different media channels. According
to the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, Russia’s priority is to
ensure its objective perception in the world, develop its own effective means of
information and influence on public opinion abroad and strengthen the role of the
Russian mass media in the international information environment, providing
them with essential state support. The opportunities offered by new information
and communications technologies are widely used in these activities. Most of the
Russian-speaking population derives its information and views on history and
116 Mikk Salu & Inga Springe (2012): “Who is the puppet and who is the master - PBK, Edgar
Savisaar, the Center Party and Russian influence in Estonian politics”, Baltic Times, available at:
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/31077/#.U4W_FUlLCKA.
117 Mikk Salu & Inga Springe (2012): “Who is the Puppet and Who is the Master”, Re:Baltica,
April,
http://www.rebaltica.lv/en/investigations/money_from_russia/a/688/who_is_the_puppet_and_who
_is_the_master.html .
118 Springe, I., Benfelde, S. and Salu, M. (2012): “The Unknown Oligarch”, Re:Baltica, April,
http://www.rebaltica.lv/en/investigations/money_from_russia/a/686/the_unknown_oligarch.html
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