Disinfo: Belarus moves towards complete colonization by the West

Summary

The US would need a person completely dependent on CIA as the head of Belarus. He would need to have double citizenship, an English accent and thesis about the methods of US colonial governance in Eastern Europe defended at the Yale University. The current foreign minister Uladzimir Makey, although pro-Western, will only satisfy the West as a transitional figure. After the US Department of Commerce recognises Belarus as a market economy, it will soon join the WTO and sign a free trade agreement with the EU. The opening of Belarusian markets will be accompanied by filling legislative and executive branches of power with radical pro-Western and Russophobic forces. They would provide a political cover for the revolution.

After political and judicial systems are placed under West’s control, the public sector will become insolvent and the most important dozen of enterprises will be privatised by American transnational companies. The agricultural sector will be shut down, the IT sector will die, just as other economy branches including machine building. Massive unemployment and economic collapse will provoke mass emigration, while social protests will be oppressed by radicals which are currently trained in Polish and Baltic training camps. IMF-designed shock therapy would mean a colour revolution implemented through soft power. It will result in complete Belarus’ colonization by the West, foremost by the US but with the participation of Poland, Germany and Austria. Just as Ukraine, Belarus will come under external control and a puppet regime will be established. All economic policies, including negative ones, will pursue the aim to displace any Russian influence in Belarus.

Disproof

This gloomy scenario is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about West's attempts to stage a colour revolution in Belarus, to disrupt Belarus-Russia relations, and about Belarus' future being possible only in union with Russia. It is also consistent with a propagandistic narrative about US-controlled Ukraine and Ukraine as a puppet state. Furthermore, it puts forward groundless claim that Belarusian radicals are trained in Polish and Baltic state's training camps to suppress social unrest resulted from the hypothetical pro-Western course.

See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Poland is preparing Euromaidan scenario for Belarus, that Belarus will turn into anti-Russia in case it does not deepen integration with Russia, that the West's only interest in Belarus is to make it anti-Russian, and that the US plans to turn Belarus into its colony, a coup and foreign military invasion may happen.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 186
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 17/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Austria, Poland, Germany, US, Belarus, Baltic states, Ukraine, Russia
  • Keywords: Imperialism/colonialism, Anti-Russian, Colour revolutions
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Disinfo: The US has recognised Euromaidan as a coup controlled by US officials

In this film, for the first time, Americans themselves recognise Euromaidan as a coup d’etat under the external control of officials of the US presidential administration. The author of the investigation tells how the leaders of the Ukrainian revolution coordinated their actions at the US embassy in Kyiv, and then went out on the streets to protest. This investigation surprised few people in Nezalezhnaya [derogatory name for Ukraine]: the journalists from Israel and Italy already told about the Georgian snipers recruited through Saakashvili, but American viewers see for the first time how Ukraine has become a platform for fighting, war and making money.

Disproof

This is a recurring effort by pro-Kremlin disinformation outlets to represent grassroots protest movements in post-Soviet countries, including Russia itself, Ukraine, and others, as plotted by US to destabilise those countries and weaken Russia. Thus, the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in 2014 are presented as a coup fomented alternatively by the West, Georges Soros, or Victoria Nuland from the US in person; it is also often portrayed as a "Nazi coup".

In fact, the demonstrations that began in Kyiv in November 2013, called "Maidan" or "Euromaidan", emerged organically as a result of the Ukrainian people's frustration with former President Yanukovych's last-minute U-turn on the highly anticipated EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which had been under negotiation for seven years. For more cases about the Euromaidan protests, see here.

Disinfo: The Munich Security Conference was established to make money

The Munich Conference is the place to earn a lot of money. Do you think the conference organisers provide the five-star hotels for free? Everyone is guarded by security. No. They earn money there.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative discrediting Western officials and organisations. The Munich Security Conference is the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy organised by the non-profit limited liability company Munich Security Conference Foundation. The conference was established as an independent meeting place for politicians and experts to discuss the most important current and future issues of international security policy in the world. It is an influential global event and the 2020 conference included speeches from China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Director-General of the World Health Organisation Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

Disinfo: Ukrainian Community of Crimea urged Zelenskyy to abandon Crimea claims

“Your people are not here”: the Ukrainian Community of Crimea urged Zelenskyy to abandon claims to Crimea.

Disproof

The Ukrainian Community of Crimea mentioned in the news is an "organisation with a stolen name". The original Ukrainian Community of Crimea existed long before the annexation of the peninsula and now it continues to exist on the "mainland" Ukraine.

After the annexation of Crimea, there were two attempts to "recreate" this organisation. The second time in 2018, it was founded under the leadership of a member of the "Young Guard of United Russia". The other founders include a member of the Simferopol branch of "United Russia" party and a deputy chairman of the Belarusian organisation.