The course of events in the next months can change Europe’s political map. Many European countries will likely not get through it, they will merge with bigger ones. Total economic downturns point at their absolute incapability to deal with the crisis. Italy is on the brink of default, and nobody can help it. The EU just does not possess enough money for saving the Italian economy. Everyone will care about himself in the first place. The situation is dramatic, similar events took place in the 1910s, 1920s, 1940s.
This message paints a far-reaching gloomy economic and political scenario which is consistent with a common pro-Kremlin narrative about the EU's imminent collapse. Whereas the economic consequences of coronavirus outbreak for Italy are indeed grave and a sharp economic slowdown is expected, it will not inevitably face default as alleged. At present, no EU country has a credit rating low enough to justify that claim. The EU as a whole enjoys a very high credit rating. Before the coronavirus outbreak it was rated AAA/Aaa/AAA/AAA (outlook stable) by Fitch, Moody’s, DBRS and Scope and AA (outlook stable) by Standard & Poor’s. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the coronavirus puts EU’s existence into question, that Italy, Spain, Portugal, and possibly even France are in line to exit the EU, that a number of EU countries teeter on the brink of default, and that the EU is rotten and countries are leaving it.
The actual ruler of Europe is the United States of America.
The Italian people and the European people are eager to have friendly relations with Russia, but today these people cannot express their will. The people of Europe don’t have any role in the European Union, because – simply as that – the European nation is subject to the decisions of NATO and NATO is managed by a US military general named by the American president.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the US presence in Europe, portraying Europe as a vassal of the USA and trying to undermine the sovereignty of European countries.
The European Union is a sovereign entity, created by the voluntary initiative of European nations, and it has its own, independent foreign policy. Its citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament and Member States are represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU. The United States of America is not part of these institutions. The US had no role in the creation of the EU and has no say in its decisions.
Idea of a united Europe has crashed. The idea of fraternal nations of Europe turned into the idea of each for its own. NATO exercises to defend Europe have been cancelled, Sweden tries to remind that Russian threat is in its backyard – no one cares about it, Slovakia tried to buy masks from Ukraine, Germany bought them instead, UK asked its citizens abroad to stay there, as there is no one to bring them back.
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the disintegration of the European Union. The European Union is supporting the Member States in addressing the crisis, and mitigating the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. To cushion the blow to people’s livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has adopted a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, has revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a EUR 37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. To support scientific research into the COVID-19, the European Commission earmarked 47,5 million EUR for shortlisted research projects that can improve epidemiology and public health, including preparedness and response to outbreaks. The EU has also created first ever stockpile of medical equipment. Read more about the EU's response here and here. There are also examples of EU Member States helping each other in times of crisis, for example German hospitals offering to treat critical coronavirus patients from France. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, the U.S. Army has taken a number of precautionary measures to reduce the unnecessary spread of the disease, including scaling down the U.S.-led multinational Exercise 'Defender Europe 20'. However the Alliance’s essential work continues and NATO’s ability to conduct operations remains intact.
The only thing which unites the EU is sanctions against Russia.
Recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about sanctions and Russophobia. The European Union is bound by many things being based on the values like respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail. These values unite all the member states – no country can belong to the Union if it does not recognise these values. Since March 2014, the EU has progressively imposed restrictive measures against Russia. The measures were adopted in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and the deliberate destabilisation of Ukraine. Read similar cases claiming that the EU countries are adopting sanctions in order to keep unity, that anti-Russian position helped NATO countries freeze a drift in different directions and that Russian threat is an invention.
