Prague (AFP) – A year of war between Kyiv and Moscow has handed eastern European populists a potent weapon: fear.
With no end to the conflict in sight, some politicians are spreading disinformation that supporting Ukraine could drag their countries into the fight -- and many voters are listening.
False claims that governments plan to reinstate military service, announce general mobilisation or simply "send your sons to the meat grinder" have been dominating the political discourse from Prague to Sofia.
"Fear is a primal emotion, and politics of fear is the oldest tactic in the book," said Jiri Priban, professor of law at Cardiff University.
"It's part of every political campaign."
The scaremongering already appears to be working in Ukraine's westernmost neighbour, Slovakia, where large numbers of men filed an official refusal to fight for moral or religious reasons.
Whereas before the war Slovakia had some 1,500 professed conscientious objectors a year, their number rose to over 40,000 last year, according to the Slovak defence ministry.
At least some of this panic among young Slovak men of military age has been provoked by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is running an election campaign based on criticism of NATO, the US and "Ukrainian fascists".
Fico has been telling voters that the conflict "does not concern us" because it is a "war between the US and Russia".
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