Summary
- In February, a consistent growth in the frequency of mentions about China is registered, in the context of the coronavirus epidemic. During this month, according to our data, China registers the most online mentions and visibility.
- The European Union secures the second spot in terms of both online mentions and visibility, Brexit being the dominant subject associated with the most visible moment. The same main issue occupies the spotlight for the United Kingdom as well (5th place in both rankings).
- Germany is in 3rd place in both rankings. The highest number of mentions concerns two main subjects: the 23-year-old Romanian, killed in the German armed attacks and the case of the Romanian who cared for a family infected with coronavirus in Germany.
- The US is down to 4th place in both rankings (compared to last month, when it dominated the rankings both in terms of mentions and impact). The peaks of visibility for February coincide with topics such as President Donald Trump being acquitted by the Senate in the impeachment trial, the discussion about the plan for child allowances in Romania to be replaced by vouchers (this system being used in the United States) and the fact that Florin Cîțu, the nominated prime minister and current interim Finance minister, had graduated in 1996 from Grinnell College in the US.
- As for the Russian Federation, the peaks of visibility overlap the tennis game between Romania and Russia and the announcement made by the new Attorney General of Bulgaria, who will investigate all the privatizations made after the fall of communism, Russian investors being among those targeted.
- France’s most visible mentions are around the visit of the Romanian Minister of Health to Paris and Constantin Brâncuși Day.
- The mentions concerning Hungary registered an unusual peak on Facebook, in the context of the (heated) discussions concerning the Ditrău incident (Hungary was mentioned in social media posts and comments regarding the anti-immigrant stance in this largely ethnic Hungarian community).
- Mentions concerning Israel regard the first case of coronavirus identified in this country.
- NATO enjoys far less mentions at the beginning of the year. Most mentions are connected to the meeting between the Minister of National Defense and the US Secretary of Defense, as well as the situation in Syria.
The full study (in Romanian) is available here