New Eastern Europe - November-December 2017

79

In Prague, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic opened a “consulate”
in September 2016 with the help of Czech far-right actors, including the National
Home Guard, a paramilitary group not recognised by
the Czech authorities. The annual report of the Czech
Security Information Service (BIS) also refers to wide-
spread connections between extremist forces and Rus-
sia. The aim of this co-operation is to test and under-
mine trust in various states and their law enforcement
bodies. Sometimes the goal of these organisations is
to challenge the legitimacy of elected governments in
their home countries and Ukraine in parallel. In Eur-
asian Disunion: Russia’s Vulnerable Flanks, authors
Janusz Bugajski and Margarita Assenova correctly de-
scribe the Kremlin’s strategy, writing that Moscow “en-
deavours to benefit from political, ethnic, religious and
social turbulence in East Central Europe in order to
keep governments off balance. Any democratic regression in ECE combined with
the growth of nationalism and populism can favour Russia’s regional objectives by
weakening democratic institutions, engendering EU divisions and undermining
N ATO’s effectiveness.”

Fertile soil

The Kremlin has found natural allies in extremist movements whose voices are
amplified by a strong pro-Russian media network, which spreads fake news and
conspiracy theories predominantly on social media. These outlets often call for
the secession of minorities living in Ukraine. They also exploit the widespread, al-
beit not dominant, mistrust of the West with the aim of turning the countries of
the region against each other and, most importantly, against the Euro-Atlantic es-
tablishment.
Of course these extremist organisations (while having some ideological support
from mainstream players) are usually marginal. This raises the question as to why
so much attention should be paid to them. The answer is simple: in extraordinary
times, non-extraordinary people and organisations can make history. Russia does
its best to maintain the extraordinariness. Who would have thought, for example,
that before the Ukrainian conflict, Alexander Zakharchenko, now the separatist
leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, is someone who should
be taken seriously?

In Prague, the

self-proclaimed

Donetsk People’s

Republic opened

a “consulate”

in September

2016 with the

help of far-right

groups in the

Czech Republic.

Central Europe is more vulnerable than it appears, Péter Krekó, Edit Zgut and Lóránt Győri Opinion & Analysis