AIES
Executive Summary - Presence of Russian Disinformation Narratives in Austrian Parliamentary Discourse
An empirical analysis of political communication based on the 2024 Report on the Protection of the Constitution
AIES Studie 2026/3
29.09.2026 / Österreichische Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik / Globale Dynamiken
#disinformation #Austria #democracy #neutrality #Russia
Russian information operations and disinformation are widely regarded as key instruments of hybrid influence targeting European democracies. While existing research has often focused on social media, digital platforms, and coordinated online networks, this AIES study examines institutionalized political communication in Austria. It investigates the extent to which five Russian disinformation narratives identified by Austria’s Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN) in its 2024 State Protection Report have entered debates in the National Council and the provincial parliaments.
The analysis covers 11,490 speeches from the National Council and 43,066 speeches from eight provincial parliaments between 24 February 2022 and 24 February 2025. Potential narrative instances were identified through a multi-stage, LLM-assisted classification procedure and subsequently validated individually by the research team. The final dataset comprises 520 confirmed instances across 432 parliamentary speeches.
The findings reveal a selective and uneven pattern of resonance. Overall, 56.9 per cent of the identified narrative claims were rejected, while 43.1 per cent were supported. The most frequently observed narrative was the claim that sanctions against Russia are ineffective and primarily harm the domestic population. At the same time, support for the examined narratives is strongly concentrated among particular political actors, while parliamentary counter-speech constitutes a substantial part of the overall debate.
The study examines discursive resonance, not intent or external influence. Agreement with one of the examined narratives therefore does not in itself demonstrate that a statement was knowingly disseminated as disinformation or influenced by Russia.