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The Foreign Ministry’s communication campaign “Words Matter” – among the best in the Baltic states

“The international campaign “Words Matter” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, which calls for using correct terms and naming the aggressor concerning Russia's war against Ukraine, won second place in the public sector campaign category at the annual “Mi:t&Links “Baltic Communication Awards.

“We have been confronted with the horrible reality for over two years. Seeing atrocious war crimes against Ukraine by Russia every day, we still hear and see in various media many false terms, including the “war in Ukraine”, “Ukrainian war”, or “crisis in Ukraine, that help to promote Russia’s propaganda. We believe that to achieve the accountability of the aggressor, we must clearly and correctly state that this is Russia’s against Ukraine, says Viktorija Urbonavičiūtė, Head of Communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Words Matter campaign, launched in February 2023 to commemorate the anniversary of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, calls on media outlets, international policy experts, and commentators to critically examine how Russia’s war against Ukraine is described and what words are chosen to name it, avoiding the use of incorrect terminology.

With the help of Lithuanian diplomatic missions, an educational video message on the importance of words was prepared and distributed in seven languages: English, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, and German. Campaign messages reached more than 300,000 social media users around the world, who actively shared the message and encouraged the fight against Kremlin propaganda, not forgetting the accountability of the aggressor Russia. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic missions supported and shared the campaign.

More campaign materials are available on MFA’s X platform, Facebook, and LinkedIn social media accounts.