fact finder
Since the start of the European Championship, the public focus has been on the football event – and it has become a projection surface for national conflicts. Manipulated images and videos are further inflaming the mood.
“Romanian fans chant Putin chants at the match against Ukraine” – with this claim, a video was shared on social media last week, showing Romanian fans at the European Championship match against Ukraine in the stadium in Munich. In the eleven-second clip, chants of “Putin Putin” can be heard. But the video is manipulated.
Because the Romanian fans did not shout any pro-Putin chants. the news agency AFP writesthe soundtrack of the video has been replaced – the original sound comes from a clip from a football match during the 2021 European Championship. However, Ukrainian fans did not sing “Putin Putin” in the match, but “Putin Chuilo”, which in English means “Putin is an asshole”. In the video that is currently being circulated, however, the “Chuilo” has been cut out and replaced by a repetition of the first “Putin” chant.
In the wake of the manipulated video, a second video was circulated with the old soundtrack of the “Putin Chuilo” chants and the claim that the Romanian fans were not celebrating Putin, but insulting him. But this soundtrack also did not come from the Romania-Ukraine match.
Flag in the picture retouched
And these are not the only cases of manipulated content. The European Championship in Germany is also being used by disinformation actors to stir up sentiment with targeted false claims – especially with regard to the war against Ukraine.
Another post claimed that Romanian fans had brought a flag of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” into the stadium for the match against Ukraine, which Russia annexed in violation of international law during the war of aggression. One picture is said to show the black, blue and red flag of the “People’s Republic” hanging on a barrier in front of the Romanian fans’ curve.
But video footage of the game shows that this flag was not actually there. It was apparently added to the picture afterwards. In addition, the Romanian fans showed their solidarity with Ukraine during the game. Among other things, they started chanting “Ukraine”.
Slovakia flags allowed against Ukraine
Before the Ukraine match against Slovakia, a false claim was widely spread on social networks. According to it, the Slovakian flag was not allowed to be taken into the stadium because it was too similar to the Russian flag (both white, blue and red). A video from the AP news agency served as supposed proof.
However, this clip was also manipulated, as the AP confirmedThe soundtrack of the video has been replaced; the original is about a Tesla shareholder vote. UEFA has also already denied the claim.
Wrong sign in Stuttgart sports cafe
Also false is a post claiming that a sign was put up in a sports café in Stuttgart asking visitors to refrain from racist insults and political discussions during the games. The photo shows the sign in both German and Ukrainian, which suggests that it is primarily aimed at Ukrainians.
But the photo is a fake, as the Ukrinform news agency reportsThe interior of the sports café differs from the interior of the photo that was circulated. The sports café itself also denied having put up such a notice.
Even before the European Football Championship, there had been disinformation aimed at discrediting Ukraine. For example, a fake “Bild” videoin which ARD doping expert Hajo Seppelt was quoted as saying that he was proposing exceptions for Ukrainian footballers regarding the doping rules. Both the “Bild” newspaper and Seppelt denied that this report actually existed.
Russia from European Championship excluded
The war against Ukraine also played a role during the European Championships, even beyond online disinformation. Georgian and Polish fans, for example, chanted against Putin and Russia, while Serbian fans chanted pro-Putin slogans and also posted pictures with the Russian flag.
“The war in Ukraine is present at the European Championships simply because Russia is not there, but Ukraine is,” says social scientist Robert Claus. Russia has always taken part in the previous European Championships, but since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the national team has been suspended by UEFA.
In addition, the Ukrainian fan scene has been scarred by the war, as many ultras and hooligans are fighting on the front lines, says Claus. In addition to the expressions of solidarity, especially from Eastern European fans, and the pro-Russian chants and symbols from some of the Serbian supporters, the war in Ukraine has so far been less of a focus of the European Championship than he had expected.
Kosovo also in focus
The simmering Kosovo conflict is at least as present during the European Championships as the war in Ukraine, says Claus. “World and European Championships also serve as a stage for nationalist stagings for some fans.” Football is a projection surface and catalyst for nationalist conflicts, particularly in the Balkans. In addition, the expansion of the field of participants at the European Championships this year has meant that four countries from the region – Serbia, Albania, Croatia and Slovenia – have qualified.
Serbia’s relationship with Albania and Croatia has been extremely strained since the 1990s. Several former Yugoslavian republics fought each other in several wars at the time, with the Bosnian and Croatian wars being particularly bloody. Serbia also waged war against Albanian independence supporters in the then Serbian republic of Kosovo at the end of the 1990s, whereupon NATO intervened militarily in the conflict.
In 2008, Kosovo declared its independence, which Serbia still does not recognize. More than 100 countries, including the USA and many other Western states, have recognized Kosovo as an independent country.
Penalties against Serbian and Albanian associations
One video that was circulated in pro-Serbian circles claimed that Spanish fans had chanted “Kosova – Serbia” (in German: Kosovo – Serbia) during the match against Albania. However, it was actually Albanian fans who had chanted “Kosova – Shqipëria” (Kosovo – Albania), as other videos also show.
Croatian and Albanian fans had chanted anti-Serbian chants during their match, which is why the General Secretary of the Serbian Association called on UEFA to impose sanctions on Croatia and Albania. The Albanian association, like the Serbian association, was fined for “provocative messages”. In the Serbian bloc, flags were shown, among other things, showing the outline of Kosovo, filled in with the colors of the Serbian coat of arms.
“Positive signals of European integration”
“The European Championship is a vivid illustration of the nationalist conflicts that still exist in Europe,” says Claus. This was also shown, for example, by the confrontation between Turkish and Georgian fans before the match in Dortmund. For Claus, these aggressively competing nationalisms are breaking points in the advancing Europeanization.
Overall, however, Claus draws a positive conclusion from the European Championship so far. On the whole, the many images of fans from different countries celebrating together show clear signs of advancing European integration.