Summary
- The war in Ukraine, discussions around increasing European defense spending, and Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip were the dominant topics in May, generating visibility and mentions for the majority of the monitored international actors. Other notable subjects included: new U.S. tariffs, Europe Day, diplomatic relations and foreign visits (the U.S. President’s visit to the Middle East, Presidential Advisor Diaconescu’s trip to Israel, the appointment of a new U.S. Ambassador to Romania, and the review of the Visa Waiver Program), as well as domestic political developments such as the formation of a new government in Germany.
- The United States continues to lead in terms of total mentions, followed closely by Ukraine and the European Union, which are nearly tied. Russia ranks fourth. Compared to April, most of the actors included in the analysis recorded an increase in the number of mentions. The exceptions are the U.S., China, and NATO, all of which saw a decline in this metric.
- The U.S. also maintains its leading position in terms of estimated impact (views), followed, as in the previous month, by Ukraine and Russia, which are nearly level. The European Union ranks fourth. Overall, most actors saw a decrease in the estimated visibility of their mentions. Notable exceptions include Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel, all of which experienced growth in this indicator.
- Most of the monitored actors continued to be mentioned primarily in online press sources. The exceptions were the EU and NATO, which registered a relatively balanced number of mentions across both online press and Facebook.
- Local sources contributed the most to the total number of mentions in the case of Germany (approximately 21%). At the opposite end of the spectrum was Russia, with only 9%. High local source contributions were also observed for France (19%), the European Union (18%), and NATO (18%).