Anti-Muslim Coverage of Russia-Ukraine War in Greece, Poland, Hungary, and UK. Conspiracy narratives in German, Belgium and French media.
In March’s media monitoring, we saw a widespread anti-Muslim coverage of the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine whilst an article on a Hungarian pro-government media outlet aligned with Russia’s disinformation campaign. The German extreme right-wing magazine Compact published antisemitic anti-vax conspiracy narratives explaining that the reason for the war in Ukraine is ‘The Great Reset’, while the British tabloid Daily Mail published an article amplifying ISIS's praise of the Russia-Ukraine war, alleging that it is a religious conflict between Orthodox crusaders. The Belgian extreme right movement Nation exploited victims of the 2016 Brussels bombing attack to further their anti-Muslim agenda. The French far-right YouTube channel, Livre Noir, promoted Eric Zemmour’s anti-Muslim campaign.
Greece – Politician uses Ukrainian refugees to peddle anti-Muslim conspiracy narratives
Failos Kranidiotis, the president of the far-right party New Right, wrote an article for Newsbreak.gr where he compared Ukrainian and Middle Eastern refugees.
His piece describes the influx of Ukrainian refugees as a disruption of the alleged Great Replacement plot of left-wing organizations, as Ukrainians are white, Christian, and “remind us of what the definition and image of true refugees really is.”
While making comparisons, the author used derogatory terms for refugees from Somalia, Pakistan and Syria. Through binary opposites, Ukrainian refugees are described as “begging and grateful,” whereas Middle Easterners are “demanding, rude and arrogant”. Ukrainian men are “courageous, protect the weakest and share Christian values”, and Middle Eastern men are described as “dirtbags who leave women and children behind.”
The author neglects facts to focus, instead, on creating polarization through binary harmful stereotypes, using the humanitarian catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine to peddle racist, discriminatory rhetoric.
Germany - Archbishop Viganò claims that the reason for war in Ukraine is ‘The Great Reset’
The extreme-right-wing magazine Compact has published a 5-part letter by the Italian Archbishop Viganò. After starting with a quote by pope Pius XIII from the eve of WW2, the letter then comments on the Russian invasion of Ukraine using antisemitic and anti-vax conspiracy narratives. The war is presented as an evil plan by Ukrainian President Zelensky.
According to Viganò, Zelenskyy who wants to reform the country according to “the Great Reset” (a conspiracy narrative alleging that a global financial elite is planning a reset of the current world economic order) and “LGBTQ ideology,” as required by the “globalists” George Soros, Barack Obama, Melinda & Bill Gates Foundation, and Ukrainian, Jewish Oligarch Kholomoysky.
The term “globalist” is an antisemitic dog whistle often used to refer to Jewish people. Viganò claims that Russia is waging war against Ukraine not only to fight against a neo-Nazi regime, but also against “The Great Reset”. Describing itself as the “strongest German-language political medium in the fight against the New World Order pursued by the global elite”, it is not a surprise that Compactfeatures Viganò’s antisemitic statements.
Belgium - News site normalizes the idea of banning the Muslim headscarf on the street
The Flemish news site PalNws published an article about a poll surveying France’s public opinion on banning the Muslim headscarf on the streets.
The poll was conducted by the French, right-wing CNews TV channel, after Sébastien Chenu, a French MP and spokesperson of the far-right National Rally party, launched the idea. The poll results are presented as representative of the whole French population, but the article does not include details on how many people were surveyed.
The article presents percentages (61 percent in favour and 39 percent against, with variations on gender, age, and political inclination) without any context on what this would mean for the Muslim population in France. Instead, it polarises opinion and oversimplifies an already heated debate that has caused stigmatisation of the country’s Muslim religious minority. In doing so, this article normalises views against the Muslim headscarf, indirectly encouraging the readers to think that a ban of personal, religious symbols on the street is a legitimate position.
Belgium - Extreme-Right Movement Nation exploits victims of 2016 Brussels bombing to spread stereotypes against migrants and Muslims
On the 22nd of March 2022, the sixth anniversary of the suicide bombings in the Brussels subway and airport, militants of the extreme-right movement NATION paid homage to the 32 victims of the attack.
At the Maalbeek metro station, NATION’s co-president Nancy Van Den Eede, demanded justice for the people killed and injured on that day. In her speech, she blamed politicians and the country’s permissive immigration policies for the attack and referred to the Great Replacement conspiracy narrative as “the submission of the Western World to Islamism.” In doing so, Van Den Eede exploited victims of the terrorist attacks to spread stereotypes about migrants and Muslims, portraying them as inherently violent and dangerous to Belgium and Belgian people.
Furthermore, in their speeches on the day, NATIONused the words “neither forgiveness nor forgetfulness”, which is the slogan often used by the families who lost a loved one due to police brutality or shooting. NATION appropriated these words and used them to demonise and scapegoat racialised minorities in Belgium
Poland – Far-right writer differentiates between Muslim black and brown refugees and Christian white refugees
On the 11th of March 2022, Rafal Ziemkiewicz, Polish far-right commentator and sci-fi writer, was invited on to a rightwing TV Republika programme to comment on the latest news on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ziemkiewicz criticised the statements by Janina Ochojska, MEP and former director of Polish Humanitarian Action, who denounced the Polish government at the European Parliament for having double standards in their response to the refugee crisis. She was referring to the Belarusian-Polish border, where hundreds of refugees have been left stranded, and the Ukrainian-Polish border, where refugees were let in. In his remarks, Ziemkiewicz described Muslim immigrants through derogatory terms such as “those crowds of the broad-shouldered Ahmeds” and suggesting that they are “aggressive.”
Furthermore, Ziemkiewicz stated that Poland should accept migrants who have a similar culture, implicitly claiming that the coexistence of Muslim migrants and “native Europeans” is impossible. In October 2021, Ziemkiewicz, who is a prominent figure in Polish far-right media, was banned from entering the UK and detained at the Heathrow airport due to his "conduct and views which are at odds with British values and likely to cause offence."
Hungary – Pro-government media outlet aligns with Russian disinformation campaign
Origo, a pro-government Hungarian news site, reported on a disagreement between the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnik, and member of the German far-left Die Linke party, Fabio de Masi. Backing up the Russian narrative of the invasion of Ukraine as an operation of denazification, the German politician accused Ukrainians of having created, and still having in their ranks, the fascist, Azov Battalion.
The Ukrainian ambassador reacted angrily to this remark, attacking Die Linke party for supporting Russian hostile actions for years. This Origo article is centered on attacking the Ukrainian ambassador as rowdy and on briefly presenting the Azov Battalion as a neo-Nazi unit. This type of coverage is closely aligned with the Russian disinformation campaign, which is using the existence of the Azov Battalion as a pretext to invade Ukraine and a proof of its supposed prevalent neo-Nazism. While it is true that the Azov Battallion is a ultranationalist militia in the Ukrainian armed forces, the article does not provide context of the history of incorporating the group into the army and does not state that in the 2019 election the far-right parties received only 2 percent of the vote.
Origo also avoids mentioning that, in his response, the Ukrainian ambassador denounced Die Like for having close connections with Aleksandr Zakharchenko, former leader of separatist Donetsk Republic, who used antisemitic slurs to describe the Ukrainian government in 2015.
France – The New Far-Right Media Outlet Livre Noir Spreads Dangerous Anti-Muslim Narrative
With almost 250,000 subscribers on YouTube, Livre Noir is becoming one of the most prominent far-right media outlets in France. Livre Noir has been pushing Eric Zemmour ’s presidential campaign and spreading anti-Muslim hatred, while aiming to present itself as a reputable news source.
A recent report from Ukraine falsely claimed that those people trying to cross the border without Ukrainian passports were pretending to be students. The same video also accused Al Jazeera of trying to put pressure on the frontiers to open a “new gate to the EU.”
The French elections have also been part of Livre Noir’s most recent focus. A video trailer endorsed Marine Le Pen as a chance to “save France” and featured Eric Zemmour’s claim that Emmanuel Macron is recklessly endangering the country with excessive migration.
Thanks to the high amount of content Livre Noir produces, the media outlet is able to include some opposing views that allow it to claim to be balanced. But at its core, Livre Noir is spreading anti-Muslim views, promoting dangerous conspiracy narratives, and is unequivocally siding with France’s far-right parties.
UK – The Daily Mail amplify ISIS’s praise of the Russia-Ukraine war
On the 9th of March 2022, the British tabloid the Daily Mail published an article on their website titled: ‘ISIS praises Ukraine war as ‘crusaders against crusaders’ and says it hopes it will destroy ‘enemies of Islam’. This article promotes false information about the incentives of the war, amplifying ISIS’s conspiracy narrative alleging that the Russia-Ukraine war is a religious conflict between Orthodox crusaders.
One of the sources is ‘al-Naba’, the Islamic State’s official weekly newspaper, known for spreading propaganda related to the group’s activities. Statements such as ‘ISIS has praised the Ukraine war as a ‘divine punishment’ for the West which it hopes will destroy the ‘enemies of Islam’ might create misunderstandings among the readers and strengthen anti-Muslim sentiments.
By giving prominence to the Islamic State’s official publications, The Daily Mail’s allegations could incite fear, violence and hate speech towards the Muslim community. The Mail Online is known for its anti-Muslim media coverage and for stereotypically comparing the Muslim community to terrorist groups.
