Analysts: Some politicians abuse topic of Ukrainian grain

Abusing the issue of contaminated grain from time to time may create a mild backlash and reinforce anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Slovak society, analysts believe. It is often enough to speak any opinion loudly enough and part of the people will always adopt it, said sociologist Václav Hřích.

"We see that the debate, especially in the political arena, at the moment is about whether or not it is actually contaminated grain. I think there's still some controversy going on about the samples. Any information will be considered more true by the citizens of Slovakia the more they are told about it by the very politicians they trust," said Hřích. He added that much of the anti-Ukrainian sentiment comes from the spread of disinformation, which is not only Slovakia's problem, but also that of other countries around the world.

Several leaders of opposition political parties have spoken out strongly on the issue of contaminated grain. National Council of the Slovak Republic deputy Tomáš Taraba (Život - National Party) called on Prime Minister Eduard Heger not to make Slovakia a garbage bin, and Republic leader Milan Uhrík wrote on the social network that "Slovakia is doing enough for Ukraine. Ukrainian businessmen are selling us grain filled with chemicals and pesticides for a reward."

Grigory Mesezhnikov, a political scientist and president of the Institute for Public Affairs, told the SITA news agency that "Taraba, Uhrik and others like them are behaving like Russian agents." He stressed that Ukraine is a victim of a military conflict in which people are dying every day.

According to Hřích, how these sentiments in society can be eliminated depends to a large extent on how well the state or organisations that belong to the state are able to explain this issue and how authentic they are in that explanation. "I don't expect we can avoid hoaxes. As people, we have less and less time and probably less will to verify information. That said, those who spread false information or hoaxes are taking advantage of the fact that they are doing a better job in an age that is getting faster and faster. We humans don't verify information in anything," the sociologist explained.

This period, according to him, is called "living in the headlines". "It's one of the consequences, but it's not just due to hoaxes. It is the general mood in society. There is a very intense internetisation and social networking not only in the country but more or less in the whole world," he added.

"It is not only about hoaxes, but also about the phenomenon of Internet medicine, for example. It's about people looking everything up on the internet and then coming to doctors with their own solutions. Doctors sometimes just look at what it is they actually want from them," he added.

Source: SITA