PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOUR STATES OF UKRAINE CONCERNING THE RUSSIAN INVASION

Abstract

The war significantly affected Ukraine's, European and the world's political, security, economic, and social resilience and caused regular increases in information aimed at creating perceptions of a pseudo-escalation of the situation, strengthening panic ideas and national discontent. The public discourses in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, and Hungary are characterized by different views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine: discreet, mostly neutral discussions take place in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania; discussions involving all communication channels are observed in Poland; mainly destructive criticism promoted by users on social media is noted in Hungary. The paper examines the thematic lines of discussions and their sentiments with an emphasis on the negative attitudes; the context of formed narratives; the interests of authors who write on the researched subject; the platforms and countries where discussions take place and their focus. In general, two trends could be distinguished in the creation of negative narratives about the war against Ukraine: the first is aimed at creating ideas of public despair towards the possibilities of social protection, and the second trend focuses on drawing parallels between historical and actual events with the addition of false historical facts. Keywords: war, invasion, refugees, sanctions, EU, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania.