German journalist Thomas Bray is a well-known name in our region. As a specialist for Southeast Europe at the German news agency DPA, he knows the Balkans very well and is the right person for the complex topic of foreign influence on the countries here. In the interview, he said that due to the insufficient capacity of politicians, the Western Balkans „suffers“ from conspiracy theories that dark forces determine the fate of small countries in Europe. With this veteran journalist who has reported for DPA for 38 years and has managed all the correspondents in the region, we inevitably raised the topic of Russian influence in the Balkans, which he believes is still strong.
Mr. Brey you have been a correspondent for Southeast Europe, including the Balkan region, for a long time. What have you learned after all these years of correspondent work for the Balkan region that Western countries do not know?
-I worked for the German Press Agency DPA for almost 40 years on and in South-East Europe. Hundreds of examples have made it clear that politics works very differently here than in Western or Northern Europe. As a rule, a small elite maintains a firm grip on the political and economic landscape. Business bosses finance political parties and use the media they have bought to promote their interests. The political elites have hollowed out democracy so that only a democratic façade exists, behind which the clientelist system dominates everything. The parties are not structured from the bottom up, but from the top down.
The strong leader places his loyal followers in the centres of power. They are allowed to do their private business unmolested by the judiciary or state authorities and thus quickly enrich themselves. Conversely, the party comrade ensures that his employees are forced to vote for the ruling party. The party functionary is also constantly diverting money from his company to finance the political class. The system is held together by corruption on an immense scale. The absurdity of these corrupt systems in practically all countries in the region becomes clear when you realise that newly founded companies, often with only one employee, are awarded state contracts worth millions of euros by the political elite.
Enrichment through politics
Did the Balkan countries manage to independently decide on their future after the breakup of Yugoslavia, or did they find themselves buffeted by the winds of the so-called East and the so-called West? Here are circles in my country that are quite vocal in their efforts to portray that the policy pursued by the former Macedonia, and now North Macedonia, was determined by the EU and the US. What are your views on these issues?
-This question refers to one of the many conspiracy theories in the Western Balkans and in South-East Europe as a whole. According to this theory, unidentified dark forces are determining the fate of the small states in Europe. Official politicians want to divert attention from their own responsibility with such propaganda theories. The eternal excuse is that they could not act any differently because they were forced into this or that move ‘by the West’ or, alternatively, by Russia. However, the parties in many countries in the region have failed to formulate a political and economic programme that is accepted by most citizens at national level. The party landscape in the Western Balkans is atomised. Micro-parties repeatedly gain huge influence as the tip of the scales in the formation of government majorities.
How familiar are you with the path that North Macedonia has taken so far?
-In North Macedonia, too, the political class is determined by the endeavour to enrich itself privately through public office. Politics is not seen as the realisation of ideological positions, but as a means of improving one's own economic situation. As a direct consequence, large sections of the population have lost confidence in the government and the entire system. They are emigrating. This affects young and well-educated people in particular. As a result, the country's foundation is being weakened further and further.
A large delegation from the German business community visited North Macedonia at the end of May. They also outlined four requirements to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski in order to attract more investment to the country. North Macedonia must invest in its infrastructure and energy security and continue to integrate regionally with the other countries in the region. Securing a sufficient number of skilled workers and guaranteeing the rule of law are also indispensable prerequisites for more involvement by German companies in North Macedonia.
Do you think North Macedonia is sufficiently prepared – both institutionally and within its media landscape – to counter foreign information manipulation and interference, especially in times of elections or international crises?
-In the countries of south-eastern Europe, the media landscape is one of the biggest obstacles to modernisation and reform. Powerful oligarchs control newspapers, TV stations and internet portals. These serve them as transmission belts as they once did under communism: citizens are to be manipulated and kept quiet via propaganda in the media. If necessary, they are incited against the opponents of individual oligarchs and politicians. In plain language, this means that the population is not reasonably objectively informed - not about conditions at home and certainly not about the situation abroad. Instead, people are being instrumentalised in the interests of oligarchs and politicians.
Let's take the current disputes between Bulgaria and North Macedonia as just one example. In Sofia, the nationalist policies of the local elites serve to whitewash the chaos at home with ever new parliamentary elections and without a stable government with a clear majority. Bulgaria's internal political conflicts are concealed by the common nationalist policy with sometimes absurd demands on the North Macedonian neighbour. This is a favourite technique that has also been pursued by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic for many years: If there are headwinds at home, then I create a crisis in neighbouring countries to distract attention from the domestic political situation. In both Bulgaria and Serbia, the media almost unanimously support such a policy with outright campaigns. They also pillory people as they did in the Middle Ages; today it's the front pages of newspapers.
The Kremlin's soft power
Based on your research, what are the main channels through which Russian media exert influence in the Balkans – and where does North Macedonia stand in that picture?
-Russian propaganda is capitalising on the volatile politics in the entire region. The Kremlin's soft power is centred around the editorial offices of Sputnik and RT (Russia Today) in Belgrade. From here, Russian narratives are disseminated in the languages of the individual nations. The aim is to prove the alleged superiority of the autocratic Russian and Chinese systems over parliamentary democracy. Russia and China are currently building a new world order in which Europe no longer plays a role. Russia stylises itself as the defender of the Christian family against the effeminate and libertarian LGBTQ societies in the West.
According to this propaganda, only the economic systems of Russia and China have a future, while Western capitalism is on the verge of collapse. Such narratives fall on fertile ground, especially among the less educated and those living in the provinces without foreign contacts. Even a brief look at the realities shows the absurdity of the alleged superiority of the Russian economy: last year, the largest country in the world generated just half the gross domestic product of Germany. Even Italy's GDP is larger than Russia's.
In your analyses, you point to Russia as a shadow over the Balkans and the certain media that have put themselves in its service. But what do we do with the inclination of certain leaders in the region towards the Kremlin or towards the “bad boy” in Hungary?
-Russian propaganda has it easy in the Balkans. This is because the political elites often represent very similar narratives to the Kremlin. This is why Vladimir Putin is seen as a political role model in many Russian countries. Many media outlets report full of admiration about Putin's staging as a ‘whole guy’ on safari in the taiga, playing ice hockey or ‘competing’ as a successful judoka. His presentation as the protector of religion and society against the allegedly corrosive influences of the West falls on fertile ground with large sections of the population.
How do you assess the role of the EU in supporting the Western Balkans in tackling foreign information manipulation? Is the support timely and adequate?
-The EU is doing far too little to curb Russian propaganda and set the Kremlin's twisted fake world straight. The small EU special unit ‘EU vs. disinformation’ is not enough here. Brussels would have to force the countries in the region (e.g. by conditioning loans) to democratise their media landscapes in order to open the door to valid information. In addition, the EU should ensure that the worst fake news such as ‘Ukraine has invaded Russia’, ‘German Foreign Minister was a prostitute’, ‘NATO wants to attack Russia’, ‘The EU wants to subjugate the Balkans’ are corrected.
What would be your key advice for young journalists and media professionals in North Macedonia to strengthen their ability to resist foreign influence and protect the public sphere?
-The most important thing, however, is to train young journalists to learn the craft of journalism from the outset. If you look at the reporting in many media in the region today, you quickly realise that it is poorly done from a journalistic point of view. The focus is often on the authors who want to make a name for themselves. It's not about them, but solely about the topics. And these are topics that interest citizens and affect them personally. Not primarily the big politics and national issues, but a few numbers smaller, because that is what really interests the people concerned: How does the healthcare system work? How do the local authorities work? How is the infrastructure developing: roads and bridges, railways, local public transport, energy supply?
Journalists are not litterateurs, but should concentrate on the content beyond their egos. Less opinion and commentary and more facts. Support the participation of citizens in local political issues. At the same time, this is a support programme for anchoring democratic principles. Journalists must not make common cause with politicians and business bosses, but with their readers.
Deficit in journalistic standards
Let's put what you said into concrete terms...
-Journalistic articles must be written in such a way that they encourage citizens to read/listen/watch them. No long-winded texts in which the same thing is said three times, as is often the case today. No stiff and stereotypical legal and bureaucratic formulations, because citizens don't understand them. Instead, journalists have to translate complicated issues in such a way that they become generally understandable. Gripping reports with the voices of those affected touch citizens, not endless speeches and the familiar speech bubbles of politicians.
I was able to see for myself at training courses for young journalists in Zagreb that there are major deficits in the teaching of recognised journalistic standards. I had written two textbooks for young journalists from Serbia and Croatia with many examples from current reporting.
This content was produced by the The Institute of Communication Studies (ICS).
Journalist: Sonja Kramarska
Photographs: Private archive
