Estonia is offering \u20ac250,000 for propagandistic audiovisual projects intended to strengthen public willingness to go to war<\/p>\n
Estonia\u2019s Defense Ministry has launched a funding competition for films and video games intended to strengthen public willingness to go to war, as Tallinn and the other Baltic states continue their military buildup citing a supposed Russian threat.
\nThe scheme has a total budget of up to \u20ac250,000 ($280,000) and covers feature films, documentaries, animation, television series, and narrative video games, public broadcaster ERR reported on Tuesday. Applications close November 18, with the money available for use next year.
\nTallinn is specifically looking for audiovisual productions that align with national defense goals and can reach different generations and make military issues accessible to a wider audience, ministry spokesman Thomas Melli explained to the outlet.
\nDirector Ilmar Raag, who previously received ministry funding for a documentary, urged officials to favor credible portrayals over simplistic messaging, warning that overt propaganda could backfire. \u201cThose people who give money in the ministry must see that if a filmmaker\u2019s mind moves towards an overly simplistic propagandistic vision, it can actually have a negative backlash,\u201d he told ERR.<\/p>\n
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Inside NATO\u2019s online propaganda machine<\/p>\n
The initiative comes alongside region-wide preparations for what have officials have claimed could be a confrontation with Russia by the end of the decade. The Financial Times reported earlier this month that Estonia wass acquiring missile systems capable of reaching St. Petersburg and deploying additional troops along the Russian border, particularly near the Kaliningrad exclave.
\nDefense Minister Martin Herem \u201cjoked\u201d last month that if Estonia mobilized and Russia did not attack, it would be \u201ceconomically more correct to attack ourselves\u201d rather than keep troops waiting. \u201cThen at least we will know when it will start, and we will not waste food and air in vain,\u201d he said.
\nDespite already allocating a combined \u20ac9.4 billion to defense this year, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have recently sought an additional \u20ac500 million from the EU for military drones, citing the possibility of Russia testing NATO.<\/p>\n
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NATO state preparing to strike St. Petersburg \u2013 FT<\/p>\n
The Baltic states have also pursued a sweeping crackdown on Russian language, media, and culture. Estonia and Latvia are phasing out Russian-language schooling, while all three countries have banned Russian television channels. Latvia has gone further, targeting books, video games, toys, clothing, and other goods produced in Russia and Belarus.
\nNATO has separately spent years researching online influence techniques. Published experiments examined fake social-media profiles, targeted advertising, and purchased engagement. The bloc described the work, examined in RT\u2019s America Now, as defensive research.
\nMoscow has repeatedly denied plans to attack Estonia or other NATO members, accusing Western governments of using the supposed threat to justify militarization and restrictions on Russian culture and Russian-speaking residents.
\nRussian officials have warned, however, that attacks on Russian territory or attempts to blockade Kaliningrad could provoke a military response involving all weapons in the country\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Estonia is offering \u20ac250,000 for propagandistic audiovisual projects intended to strengthen public willingness to go to war Estonia\u2019s Defense Ministry has launched a funding competition for films and video games…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t