Disinfo: Any critic of the EU is considered a “politically incorrect” dissenter and persecuted

Summary

Any critic of the EU is considered a “politically incorrect” dissenter from dominant globalist thinking and is subjected to media persecution.

A recent example is the Italian cartoonist Mario Improta (known as Marione), who published a cartoon depicting British prime minister Boris Johnson escaping the EU, portrayed as the Auschwitz concentration camp. Improta was named and shamed by the mainstream media, who claimed that his cartoon inappropriately used the Holocaust in political satire. As a result, he lost his appointment as cartoonist for the Rome city government’s civic education campaign.

But the real reason why Improta was subjected to media persecution was because he dared to question the sacredness of the European Union and thus expressed a view that dissented from dominant, “politically correct” globalist thinking.

Globalist cartoonists, instead, are allowed to freely use nazism, fascism and racism in political satire aimed at discrediting the political right. These cartoonists are not subject to media persecution by the enormous Spanish inquisition-like machinery that censors anyone who questions dominant globalist thinking.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory. Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that Western societies are ideological dictatorships that have imposed a dominant “liberal-globalist” ideology. Also, a recurrent pro-Kremlin narrative about “the elites” and mainstream media censoring and persecuting anyone who expresses views that dissent from dominant liberal-globalist thinking.

One of the major achievements of the liberal-democratic West, and of Europe in particular, is the institutionalisation of tolerance and pluralism, which means the peaceful coexistence of different religions, world-views and value-systems within the same society.

The cartoon published by Mario Improta was criticised because it improperly used an image of the Holocaust in political satire and offended the victims of Nazi death camps, not because it expressed an anti-EU view.

Improta, who removed the original cartoon from his Facebook profile, published a modified version of the cartoon with the following comment: “I edited the cartoon. It was not correct to identify the European Union with a concentration camp”.

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Reported in: Issue 178
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18/12/2019
Language/target audience: Italian
Country: Italy
Keywords: Censorship, Media
Outlet: Sputnik Italia

Bellingcat: An American propaganda machine

Bellingcat is a propaganda machine for the American military-industrial complex, funded by the [American] government.

December 23, 2019

Disproof

This is part of a recurrent Russian narrative to discredit the investigative site Bellingcat, which uncovered many elements in cases such as the downing of the MH17 flight or the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergey Skripal that contradict and expose Russian disinformation narratives.

Bellingcat platform was created in 2014 with the help of private donations received through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. In March 2019 it received 500 thousand EUR donation from the Dutch postcode lottery. Half of the funding for Bellingcat comes from grants and donations and the other half from running workshops training people in the art of open-source investigations.

The main threat to NATO comes from the alliance itself

During his visit to Kuwait, NATO Sectetary General said that NATO has problems with flexibility, as well as with unity.

“In all its years, NATO has never experienced a more complex security environment than it does today. To maintain our security, we need to be agile and prepared to respond to threats coming from all directions. From land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. From all directions. Also from State and non-state actors.”

“In November, the French president announced the death of the alliance’s brain. The reason was the lack of coordination on strategic decisions in NATO. The statement angered the allies: Trump, for example, called Macron’s words offensive, and Erdogan advised the French leader to think about the death of his own brain,” noted Stoltenberg.

“While France calls for an open dialogue with Russia, the rest consider it a threat,” he said, adding that the main threat to NATO still comes from the alliance itself. Stoltenberg noted that they have yet to find out if the alliance can survive its own internal threat.

December 23, 2019

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative undermining NATO. This article completely misinterprets the speech given by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during the ICI Anniversary Ceremony at the NATO-ICI Regional Centre. This example of Russian propaganda is wishful thinking, attributing comments to him which he did not express. Regarding what he actually said in Kuwait, this is as follows (full speech can be seen here).

"In all its years, NATO has never experienced a more complex security environment than it does today. To maintain our security, we need to be agile and prepared to respond to threats coming from all directions. From land, sea, air, space and cyberspace. From all directions. Also from State and non-state actors".

The US needs NATO to keep the Europeans under their tight control

Washington understands how bad is for NATO’s image if Turkey leaves. Both the Alliance and Turkey are extremely necessary, in the context of a clash of interests with Russia and China. But, first of all, the Americans need the block in order to keep the Europeans under their tight control.

December 23, 2019

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about NATO as a tool used by the US to control the policies of European states. This narrative claims that almost all European countries are no longer truly sovereign and the United States dictates EU and member states' policies.

On 4 April 1949, the foreign ministers from 12 countries, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO. At the heart of the Alliance has always been the collective defence and security of all its members. All NATO decisions are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries. Allies decide whether to engage in a crisis management operation on a case-by-case basis and by consensus. NATO and US military presence in these states is possible only on the basis of the clear consent of the hosting nation.