"We don't have enough tools to counter the lies": Austrian president recognizes the power of Putin's disinformation machine

Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen drew attention to the dangerous influence of Russian disinformation, which Kremlin propagandists are spreading in full power. He said that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not only started the war in Ukraine, but is also actively trying to destabilize Western societies by spreading lies.

Bellen said this in a speech at a New Year's reception for the diplomatic corps in Vienna. According to him, Russian propaganda is aimed not only at internal governance in Russia, but also at undermining trust and unity in Europe and the United States.

"The war on European soil rages on. President Putin has brought it to us and nobody knows when he will let go of his victim, Ukraine. What's more, inside his country, he is stirring up hatred vis-à-vis the West and inside OUR countries, he is trying to destabilize our democratic, liberal societies by means of disinformation," Van der Bellen emphasized.

The Austrian President recognized that Western countries are not prepared for such threats. He emphasized that at the moment they do not have enough tools to effectively counteract the lies and fakes spread through social media and other platforms.

"And it seems like a great tug-of-war has begun for the minds of people and governments," he said.

In his opinion, to successfully combat this problem, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation and jointly confront the challenges.

"But we must try to steer and shape these changes. Now more than ever, we need to work together,to talk to each other, to listen to each other and to identify common solutions. We need partnerships, multilateralism - the European Union, the United Nations – and we need diplomacy. Because we are stronger together," he said.

In particular, Bellen emphasized the importance of Austria's active participation in European and international politics, saying that Austria will remain a stable partner in the EU and will apply for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2027-2028.

As a reminder, the Kremlin has recently launched an information operation aimed at creating a false impression that the Russian economy is doing well. This was done after numerous indicators showed a real macroeconomic disaster enveloping the aggressor country.

As reported, the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has changed the methods for calculating inflation following dictator Putin's demands to "slow down price increases." This will allow the Russian authorities to hide the real data on price growth in the country.

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