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Narrative Report “17 September – People’s Unity Day”

Belarus Strategic Communications Centre

Key Insights:

  • Manipulated Histories: The Belarusian regime promotes narratives that portray Poland as an oppressive colonial force while glorifying the USSR as a liberator. These accounts ignore the complexities of Soviet-Polish relations and downplay Belarus’s rich multicultural heritage.
  • Anti-Western Propaganda: The state media use People’s Unity Day to bolster hostility toward the West, particularly Poland, accusing it of historical oppression and modern-day interference.
  • Unity as a Tool for Control: “People’s Unity” is framed as loyalty to the regime, fostering a climate of unquestioning nationalism while discrediting dissenting perspectives.

Acknowledgements:

The Counter Disinformation Network (CDN) is a collaborative platform that gathers more than 150 information manipulation-countering practitioners from over 30 civil society organisations, universities, news organisations, fact-checking organisations and independents mostly from Europe and North America. The network was initially convened by Alliance4Europe with the aim of protecting European democracy and information integrity. The network works to coordinate projects, respond to major events and crises, distribute research findings to actors who can use it, and facilitate exchange.

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