DISINFO: Chernobyl triggered the USSR's collapse, while the COVID-19 pandemic has started the process of the EU' disintegration
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: pl.rubaltic.ru (archived)*
  • Date of publication: March 01, 2021
  • Article language(s): Polish
  • Reported in: Issue 234
  • Countries / regions discussed: EU, Russia
Tags:
coronavirus vaccination EU disintegration Russian superiority Sergei Lavrov Diplomacy with Russia European Commission Chernobyl Sanctions Anti-Russian Brussels

DISINFO: Chernobyl triggered the USSR's collapse, while the COVID-19 pandemic has started the process of the EU' disintegration

SUMMARY

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the total disaster of the "United Europe": independent actions bypassing the EU institutions have become an effective survival strategy for European countries. The defeat of the European Union is so obvious that even the liberal mainstream notices it, explaining the words of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Moscow's readiness to break off relations with the EU. Moscow has become so strong and Brussels so weak that no one will allow the EU to interfere in the internal affairs of Russia and introduce sectoral sanctions.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Europe can be compared to the Chernobyl nuclear accident. These two disasters have identical geopolitical consequences: Chernobyl triggered the USSR's collapse and the Coronavirus has started the process of EU disintegration. The failure in the fight with the pandemic destroys faith in European integration. The vaccination campaign in Europe faces enormous problems because of the EU, the European Commission and other EU institutions, which are not able to organise anything despite spending huge amounts of money. People get sick, die and lose their jobs because of the stupidity and uselessness of Brussels officials.

RESPONSE

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that the EU is collapsing as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The claims that the European Union is collapsing as a result of the pandemic; the EU has failed in overcoming the epidemic; that EU member states have "lost faith" in European integration and the alleged interference of the EU in the domestic affairs of Russia are not supported by evidence and should be perceived as disinformation.

Coronavirus did challenge the EU's crisis response mechanisms. However, to cushion the blow to people's livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has managed to adopt a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a €37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. The EU also created the first-ever stockpile of medical equipment.

Read more on EU response to the COVID-19 outbreak here and here. The European Commission has secured up to 2.6 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines. EU countries have also pledged over €2.2 billion to COVAX, the global initiative aimed at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Read more about the EU's vaccines strategy here.

See the current situation with the vaccination progress in the EU countries here. Read the similar cases: Response measures to Coronavirus demonstrate the decline of the US and EU, Coronavirus will cause the dissolution of the EU and NATO and The myth about "European unity" is destroyed.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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