By Eva Hartog,Ketrin Jochecová

Copyright politico

The FAU redirected POLITICO to the Ministry of Finance, which cited the “legal obligation of confidentiality” as a reason not to give further details. Russia’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Czechia’s relatively short history as a liberal democracy means the government is loath to appear as a censor, according to Cirhan, the political analyst.

“Any attempts to close some media outlets or some websites claiming that they are disinformation websites is a very sensitive topic indeed,” he noted.

Spot the foreign influence

Further complicating the fight against interference is that proving Russian involvement is not always straightforward — even for seasoned propaganda-watchers.

There have been some documented cases of financial and other ties among Czech media figures or politicians and Russian-linked entities. But “in other cases there is ideological or narrative alignment, but no direct proof,” said Šefčíková.

Establishing the exact share of what is Kremlin-directed malign activity versus homegrown content that happens to align with Russian interests is “almost impossible,” she added.