Russia's President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of the Security Council. One European expert estimates that at least a third of Russia's diplomats work for Putin's intelligence agencies. Alexei Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Reuters
Reuters: Russia has 'playbook' for covert influence in Eastern Europe: study
Russia has mounted a campaign of covert economic and political measures to manipulate five countries in central and eastern Europe, discredit the West's liberal democratic model, and undermine trans-Atlantic ties, a report by a private U.S. research group said.
The report released on Thursday said Moscow had co-opted sympathetic politicians, strived to dominate energy markets and other economic sectors, and undermined anti-corruption measures in an attempt to gain sway over governments in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Serbia, and Slovakia.
"In certain countries, Russian influence has become so pervasive and endemic that it has challenged national stability as well as a country's Western orientation and Euro-Atlantic stability," said the report of a 16-month study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and the Sofia, Bulgaria-based Center for the Study of Democracy.
Read more ....
Update: Survey: Russia's Campaign To Influence Central, Eastern Europe (Novinite)
WNU Editor: You can add Montenegro to the list .... Montenegro PM accuses Russia of financing anti-NATO campaign (Reuters). But is there a plan .... I am sure that every major power in the world has a plan to influence other nations .... Russia included.
