Kroonika: Foreign ministry social media 'influencer' India trip paid for by state
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs included a social media "influencer" in a delegation it took to India last month, at a cost to the state of close to €3,000, lifestyle magazine Kroonika reports on its website.
Krooonika reports that the influencer, Karl-Gustav Kurn, 21, told commercial channel TV3 that he "was called and asked if I wanted to go to India."
"I went to India for a week with Tsahkna to collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and see how it does its work. I showed my followers what they are doing, how a foreign visit is conducted, and I got to introduce Tsahkna's persona to the public," Kurn went on.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Liisa Toots said: "The spread of information on the internet, including social media environments, is a part of our daily life, and reaching this audience is a focus for all institutions, including media houses themselves."
"Bringing foreign policy closer to the youth is of vital importance at this time, considering the events happening in the world," Toots added, and said that cooperation between the media, representatives of the new media, artists and various organizations and state institutions is "a very common practice-."
The foreign ministry's 2024 budget earmarks €15,000 for this involving of various media representatives, including foreign journalists as well as Estonian ones, plus "content creators."
Foreign Minister Tsahkna, along with his Nordic and Baltic colleagues, visited New Delhi, India, from February 20 to 23, where he participated in the annual Raisina Dialogue conference.
Karl-Gustav Kurn's India visit expenses including flight tickets, accommodation and visa costs came to exactly €2986.82.
A quick internet search reveals Kurn has followers in the 18k to 23k range on some of the main social media sites used by the younger demographic, ie. Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, while not so many (four, to be precise) on an account in his name on X, formerly Twitter.
With the run-in to the European elections, some politicians have been embarking on apparent public relations drives; Minister Tsahkna and several other politicians including Interior Minister and SDE leader Lauri Läänemets, Riigikogu Speaker and Eesti 200 chair Lauri Hussar, and MEP Sven Mikser (SDE) recently appeared alongside rapper Nublu, Kroonika reported.
Isamaa MP Jüri Ratas recently reposted on social media a photo from several years ago in which he met Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
