In this episode of The VoiCEE podcast Anna Gielewska, editor-in-chief of Vsquare.org – a cross-border network in Central Europe – speaks with Szabolcs Panyi, a leading investigative journalist at Direkt36, about what he and his colleagues have uncovered about Russia’s playbook for gaining influence in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the discrepancy in how effectively it works in Poland and Hungary.

They discuss Russia’s attempts to create friendly attitudes in CEE through financial support for fringe parties and pro-Russian NGOs, while also supporting or establishing media that can work as its mouthpiece.