Summary
- The Covid-19 crisis continues to have a significant influence on the frequency and impact of mentions for the geopolitical actors included in our analysis. All the actors examined here generated mentions in connection to the current health crisis.
- Countries rank differently in the 2 classifications we use – by the number of mentions and by the impact of mentions, respectively. The US registers the highest number of online mentions in May, followed by the EU and Germany, but the mentions concerning Great Britain have the most impact of all countries included in our research, followed by the EU, Germany, and the US.
- For all the actors included in the analysis, the moments (days) that registered the highest numbers of mentions were related to the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some of them recorded mentions in other specific contexts:
- The European Union was most mentioned in the context of the economic recovery plan announced by the European Commission.
- For Germany, the moments of highest visibility were related to the case of the Romanian temporary workers and the governmental actions involving them.
- There were several events which pushed up the number of mentions regarding the US – the announced withdrawal from the “Open Skies” Treaty, several allegations challenging China’s role in the pandemic, as well as the George Floyd case, towards the end of the month.
- The UK also garnered a large number of mentions and a lot of visibility by accumulation due to several occurrences (discussions regarding the severity of the pandemic, governmental strategies to ease the restrictions, the Dominic Cummings case etc.).
- NATO is mentioned in the context of the National Defense Strategy adopted in the Romanian National Defense Council, as well as in the context of the US announcement regarding the Open Skies Agreement.
- France was mentioned in relation to the economy (a sharp decline announced by Eurostat numbers).
- China generated mentions in connection to the US and other actors’ allegations about the origin of the Coronavirus pandemic, as well as in relation to the Romanian government’s move towards quitting the collaboration with Chinese partners in the construction of reactors 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda nuclear power plant.
- Israel was mentioned in the Romanian online space in relation to several domestic evolutions with international geopolitical echoes (PM Netanyahu’s announcement of potential annexation of West Bank territories), but also other incidents.
- Discussions related to Russia were mostly focused on the pandemic rhythm increasing, as well as the Open Skies announcement of the US.
- For several of the actors included in the research, a large number of mentions occurred on 2 dates (May 15th and May 25), when public announcements were made regarding the state of transport restrictions, either by state authorities or by transport operators.
The full study (in Romanian) is available here