The Department of Homeland Security has identified an increase in disinformation campaigns coming from the orbit of the Kremlin in Spain since Russia invaded Ukraine. And there is enormous concern about this threat that poses a risk to national security. According to the body that depends on Moncloa, disinformation is a powerful “weapon” in the cognitive field that, used in a systematic and organized way, can “wear out or weaken the hearts and minds” of the adversary.
The latest clear example of Russian disinformation took place last week via a tweet. Experts agree that one of the patterns that is repeated in these poisoning campaigns is that it is very difficult to identify the first sender of the false message. This time it was not. Hence, the perplexity with which this episode was experienced in various ministries. It was from the official account of the Russian Embassy in Spain from where it originated.
The tweet was simple but loaded with intention. A sentence taken from an interview that the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, gave to La Vanguardia in which she assured that Spain “will never, ever participate in the war in Ukraine” and a video in which four combatants appeared speaking Spanish from a trench dug in alleged Ukrainian soil. The tweet was posted Wednesday at noon. At the end of the afternoon it was deleted, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, demanded that the Russian ambassador Yuri Klimenko do so.
The tweet is the recurring narrative paradigm promoted by the Russian government against Western democracies. The Department of Homeland Security has identified a series of narratives that revolve around ideas that may reach sectors of Spanish society. And hence the enormous concern about these campaigns. According to the department, these ideas are “the evil elites against the people”, “traditional values ​​threatened”, “the loss of sovereignty of States and the threat to national identity and values” or “the imminent collapse of Western democracies” . The State Security Forces and Corps try to detect these narratives and anticipate.
Last year there was a week marked in red on the calendar, the NATO summit held in Madrid. This 2023, according to sources from the Ministry of the Interior, efforts are being redoubled because there are two “critical moments for public safety in Spain”: the planned electoral processes -autonomous and municipal on 28-M and the general ones at the end of the year- and the next Spanish presidency of the European Union during the second semester. For its part, the National Intelligence Center (CNI) is also monitoring the activities of hostile intelligence services “both inside and outside” Spanish territory. In addition, the CNI works to support its detection and, to the extent possible, facilitating its attribution.
Homeland Security warns that the future of disinformation is an uncertain field. And even more so when another factor, hitherto very residual in these destabilizing campaigns, is advancing: artificial intelligence, so in vogue in recent weeks. Police sources detail that the key is to neutralize or, where appropriate, minimize the impact on public opinion in general and on the most vulnerable polarized communities in particular. In a subtle way, so that it germinates in an almost imperceptible way, the objective of these next disinformation campaigns is to “instill discouragement in Europeâ€.
The Kremlin’s satellites strive to defend that the EU is plunged into an economic crisis as a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia. The supposed impossibility for Europe to resist without gas or oil from Russia. Also deflect Russian responsibility for the growing food crisis and insecurity of supply. And for this reason, the country that assumes the rotating presidency is the perfect target. Spain: from July to December.
At the political level, the Government is also coordinated to be “implacable” in the face of any detected and identified Russian interference. This was demonstrated after the publication of the controversial tweet once it was deleted. After the silence on the first day, Minister Robles spoke of “very clear misinformation”, and the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, referred to “insinuations that were absolutely unfounded.”
