Disinfo: Anti-Russian position helped NATO countries temporarily freeze a drift in different directions

Summary

A split between western European countries and more recent EU member states occurred right after the EU and NATO expansion. Pro-US eastern European and Baltic states eagerly take part in American projects which heighten tension in relations with Russia, whereas founding EU countries show greater restraint. For a short period of time NATO countries united around anti-Russian position after Ukrainian coup d’etat, but currently, are drifting apart again.

Disproof

This publication is one of many disinformation cases about the US military presence in Europe. It is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about aggressive, anti-Russian Western policies and a coup d'etat in Ukraine. It groundlessly alleges that NATO countries are kept together only thanks to consolidation around their anti-Russian positions. There was no coup d’état in Ukraine in 2014. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s violent dispersal of peaceful student protests against his sudden decision to withdraw from the Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk here. Read earlier disinformation cases alleging that the US will easily betray the Baltic states and hand them over to Russia, that the US does not care about the Baltic states and wants Russia to buy them, and that the Pentagon admits that the US will be unable to protect Poland from a Russian invasion.

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sputnik.by (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 175
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Latvia
  • Keywords: Anti-Russian, US presence in Europe, NATO, Coup, Baltic states
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Disinfo: Bolivia became a US target because of its lithium reserves

Bolivia has one of the world’s largest lithium reserves, thus making it disproportionately strategic. In hindsight, it therefore wasn’t surprising at all that the US would target Bolivia for regime change since it always wanted to dominate the global lithium industry and create a geo-strategic wedge for perpetuating its historic divide-and-rule policy in South America, both of which are in the process of being accomplished after the recent military coup.

Nov 14, 2019
Disproof

Conspiracy theory. No evidence is provided to support the claim. This is part of a recurrent disinformation narrative about US-led regime change operations against left wing governments in Latin America. Here are such as the alleged presence of a US marine in the Venezuelan barricades and the promotion of a Ukraine-style 'colour revolution', the training of Venezuelan exiles in Guyana for military operations inside the country, preparations for a military intervention after forcing Brazil to join NATO, deliberate blackouts in South America caused by the US, or the existence of plans for the secession of oil-rich regions in both Venezuela and Mexico. This narrative also falls within the broader pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to deny the existence of genuine grass-root protests, portraying them as foreign-led efforts and fake colour revolutions. Read the statement by the EU High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini on the situation in Bolivia here.

Disinfo: Russophobic UK spoiled relations between the two countries for good

Because of the Russophobic attitude of the UK, Russian-British relations represent the most significant conflict in Europe. It is an example of how deep-rooted prejudices can spoil relations between the two countries for good.

British Russophobia has gone so far as to accuse Russia of interfering with the referendum where the UK citizens decided to leave the EU.

Nov 14, 2019
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative linking the UK and Russophobia with no evidence provided. Russophobia is often used in pro-Kremlin disinformation as an explanation for anyone blaming Russia for anything.

By accusing Western societies of “Russophobia”, pro-Kremlin propaganda outlets downgrade criticism of Kremlin policies and actions to being somehow irrational and not worthy of a serious reply. Read previous disinformation message stating that Russophobia is an integral part of British foreign policy.

Disinfo: European countries glorify fascism, but Baltic States are worse

In several European countries, a glorification of fascism is going on. But the worst is what is happening in the Baltic countries. The nationalists seized power in the Baltic States after the collapse of the USSR. As a result, they do everything to forget the best things that connected the people of Russia and the Baltic countries. The friendship, cooperation, prosperity, the centuries-old defence against attacks from aggressors. Instead, they revive those, who together with the Germans, killed their own citizens in the camps.

Nov 14, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative attempting to link the Baltic countries with Nazism. This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It tries to promote the idea that there was no Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, portraying Russia and the Soviet Union as the only guarantor of security in the Baltic States and that the Baltic States benefited from the Molotov- Ribbentrop pact. The USSR occupied the Baltic States two times, firstly in 1940, under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, then in 1944. Contrary to the claims of the pro-Kremlin media, the re-capturing of the Baltic States did not bring freedom and prosperity, but Soviet repressions and occupation, which lasted for 50 years. The estimated war and occupation deaths are at 90,000 in Estonia, 180,000 in Latvia and 250,000 in Lithuania. Furthermore, it has been estimated that between 1946 and 1953, deportations and guerrilla deaths reached 95,000 in Estonia,125,000 in Latvia and 310,000 in Lithuania. The threat of Nazism is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative; see here for disinformation cases about Europe becoming Nazi again, Baltic states openly glorifying Nazism, Poles stoking nationalist sentiment in Ukraine in order to annex Kviv and that the EU continues the aggressive policies of Nazi Germany. The accusation of Nazism is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets as explained in our past analysis Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.