By XHABIR DERALLA
I had a wonderful opportunity and honor to be a host of the panel discussion “Russia-Ukraine Crisis and North Macedonia” (9 February 2022), which was attended by exceptional participants, including the Ambassador of Ukraine to our country, Н.Е. Natalia Zadorzhnyuk.
Civilization war
In ten minutes, Ambassador Zadorozhnyuk made an exceptional political and historical overview of a long-lasting crisis, presented the situation with Russia through facts and data, which, unfortunately, are not so present in the media space in our country. At the end of her speech, the Ambassador said:
“Either all of us civilized countries will unite based on democracy, state sovereignty, right for each country to choose its own path of development, and will give strong resistance to the attempts for the world to divide into zones of influence, or we will lose in this, as I would call it, civilization war. But I am sure that together we will win”.
Presentations of prof. Vesna Poposka from the “Vision” University, Rosana Aleksoska from MOST and journalist veterans and analysts Aleksandar Nikolic Pisarev and Ljubomir Kostovski, according to me, were also very significant contributions. It was a real pleasure to hear this abundance of data and analyses. And, unfortunately, this is a rare occasion nowadays, to hear views, information and analyses, raised above the thick clouds of propaganda dust.
Several facts from the “Eastern front”
Ukraine is an independent country. Russia has conducted a military aggression and has occupied part of the territory of this country. And now, Russia says that it’s the one being attacked.
Let’s recall the facts from the “Eastern front”. The Russia-Ukraine crisis started at the end of 2013 and culminated in 2014 with a military aggression and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and military-political and propaganda support for pro-Russian paramilitary formations in eastern Ukraine.
Currently, 7.2% of Ukrainian territory is under occupation, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers and heavy artillery are deployed on the border with Ukraine, while serious diplomatic efforts to deter Russia from full invasion on Ukraine are in progress. More than 15,000 people have lost their lives in the warfare since 2014.
Probably with the best intentions, French President Emmanuel Macron is making diplomatic maneuvers in an attempt to save peace in the short-term, by insisting on the Minsk-2 agreement, a pretty non-functional document that has only given time for pro-Russian paramilitaries to regroup and to continue with occupation on part of the Ukrainian state, with strong support from the Kremlin. A typical situation with peace agreements, especially if Russia is on one side of the signatories.
This difficult story is part of the history and present of the Ukraine nation, which is already alarming and gloomy, and can yet turn into horror. And not only for the two countries, Ukraine and Russia, but also for the entire world.
The vulnerability of the Western Balkans
This crisis has a strong impact on the whole world, with consequences already being felt in North Macedonia, as well as in the Western Balkan countries. First and foremost, the Western Balkan countries are vulnerable in many aspects. They are not under the umbrella of the EU, which has far greater economic and political power to protect its member states.
Good news is that some of the countries of the Western Balkans are members of NATO, but the good news end somewhere around there. Because we live in an era in which propaganda and hybrid security threats can cause chaos, without a single bullet being shot.
What the people understand most easily are the consequences to the economy, their standard, energy supply… They understand much less the ways in which propaganda destroys security and peacetime. The strong propaganda pressure makes all the countries in the region subject to political instability and security crises.
Society and the public are divided into pro-Russian and pro-Western, people without any hesitation engage in “war of words”, not being able to separate reality and facts from propaganda and disinformation.
Anyone can find out the facts, if they want to
These days, congratulations and acknowledgments have been coming from many sides for the effort that CIVIL’s team has been making in exposing disinformation and myths about the Russia-Ukraine story. A journalist, whose opinion and texts I particularly value, called my colleague Mishev and told him that we looked like we had a correspondence office in Ukraine. We don’t, but that’s why we try to find the facts and the real sources. We ask, check and ask again. And we found out.
Anyone can find out the facts nowadays, they just need to want to. CIVIL as an organization and CivilMedia as a media platform in Macedonian, Albanian and English, publish news from that region on a daily basis. Numerous analyses, statements and interviews have been made by using relevant sources that present the situation as it is to the Macedonian public, without propaganda and manipulation of the facts.
The sources of Civil Media are, among others, independent media outlets, experts and institutions both in Russia and Ukraine, including here also official websites of the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministries. Certainly, authors who write for CIVIL’s media platform use as sources literature and relevant media outlets, experts and state institutions also from the Western Balkan countries, the EU and the United States.
All that together is an honest and professional attempt to contribute to objective informing and debate based on facts. CIVIL’s panel discussion reveals that our society has extraordinary potential, experts and analysts with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the situation and processes. They just need to be given space in the public.
The rhythm of the evil dance
The freedom-loving part of the world is aware that freedom and peace of Ukraine means freedom and peace for Europe and the world. World peace is hanging by a thread. But peace doesn’t depend on whether a sovereign country wants to join an international association, but on the country that has set up tanks on the borders with its neighboring country. It also depends on how much the world will behave as it did in the years before World War II. And how much the public in democratic societies will allow the instruments of democracy to be abused in favor of the Russian propaganda.
The problem with disinformation is not in that there is no information and expertise, they are obviously abundant. People, simply, are victims of propaganda, which leads them to surrender to emotions, no matter how unpleasant and dark they may be. Reality is as “real” as it coincides with our prejudices. Unfortunately.
Some might say – the decision not to believe the facts doesn’t reduce their accuracy. Without doubt, the essence is not in the value of the facts and the truth, that is indisputable, but in whether and how many people believe the untruths that confirm their prejudices.
And prejudices, on the other hand, are exposed and taken advantage of, but are also created or encouraged previously and in parallel with the propaganda operations in education, the media, culture, religion, show business… Complex, right? Namely, the political situation and processes depend on how many people have turned a blind eye to reason and have surrendered to the basic emotions (fear, anger, sadness and love) that disinformation and other propaganda operations have caused. The rhythm of the evil dance is hidden in those numbers and proportions.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
