Summary

  • The Ukraine war keeps Russia and puts NATO in the first two places in the top of the mentions. Both actors have consistent increases compared to January. For NATO, it is the best position from the beginning of CPD monitoring of international actors in the Romanian online space. The US is leaving the podium, but the number of mentions is increasing. China and Israel remain in the last two places in the top of the mentions.
    • Compared to January, for the vast majority of actors included in the analysis, there is an increase in the number of mentions.
    • Exceptions are the United Kingdom and Israel, which have fewer mentions in February compared to the previous month.
  • In the top of the views, Russia is also in the first place, with an increase of more than 2.5 times compared to January. Although it has the second number of mentions, NATO is ranked third, after the EU. This means that it has more mentions than the EU, but their impact is smaller. The last two positions in the top of the views are the United Kingdom and Israel.
    • Compared to January, all the actors included in the analysis grew, with one exception – Israel.
  • The vast majority of actors considered have the most mentions on social networks (Facebook). The only exception is the United Kingdom, which in February has more mentions in the online press. However, the mentions in the online press are the ones that have the biggest impact. Russia and NATO are exceptions.
    • The UK is the only actor for which the online press generates the most mentions and the greatest impact of the mentions.
    • Russia and NATO are the only actors for whom Facebook generates the most mentions and the greatest impact of mentions.
  • Both tops were significantly influenced by the escalating conflict in Eastern Europe, namely Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For all actors, except the United Kingdom, the number of mentions increases substantially at the end of the month, more precisely after February 24. This increase is, in all cases, linked to the Russia-Ukraine war.
    • In the case of the United Kingdom, France, China, and Israel, there are also peak mentions prior to this time. These are related to the pandemic situation (in the case of all four states, especially Israel), but also to other specific issues.

The full study (in Romanian) is available here