The “Prepared Moldova” campaign, launched by the National Crisis Management Center, has been distorted and associated online with the imminence of a war. The conclusion appears in an analysis of the Center for Strategic Communication and Counter-Disinformation (StratCom), which monitored public posts from October 9-19.
According to experts, the messages have shifted the discussion from the usefulness of preparing for crisis situations to the alleged hidden intentions of the authorities, exploiting distrust in institutions, economic difficulties, and fear of war.
On October 9, right on the day of the campaign announcement, narratives emerged suggesting that the state is leaving its citizens to fend for themselves, writes IPN. The recommendation to have reserves for the first 72 hours in case of an emergency situation was twisted into an accusation that the authorities are abandoning their responsibilities.
On October 10 and 11, a text distributed on Telegram associated the campaign recommendations with the army, drone production, and the alleged abandonment of neutrality. Approximately nine minutes after the first publication, the message was reformulated on another channel, then redistributed with more categorical titles, without additional evidence.
From October 12, video materials in Romanian and Russian have been circulating, combining information about defense spending, shelters, and the risk of war. The repetition of the same statements on multiple channels could create the impression of confirmation, although the multiplication of a message does not constitute proof, warns StratCom.
Another rumor circulated on October 17, when messages about alleged “72 hours of testing and simulation” without services were distributed on Telegram and Facebook. According to StratCom, these were promoted by individuals with public profiles and picked up by other channels, without any evidence being presented regarding the existence of such a plan.
The “Prepared Moldova” program is set to begin in November and will include the launch of the “Crises” module in the EVO application, training for local authorities, practical activities for citizens, exercises in schools, and the distribution of informational materials.
According to the authorities, the initiative aims to prepare the population for emergency situations, to strengthen the intervention capacity of the authorities, and to encourage cooperation between communities.