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French President Emmanuel Macron calls for certain countries to be expelled from the EU

Summary

French President Macron is offering to expel member states from the EU. The union is falling to pieces. Thus, the talks about Georgia joining the EU are absurd and have to stop.

Disproof

A misrepresented quote. The text is referring to a letter published by Emmanuel Macron ahead of the EU elections. In the opinion piece, Macron proposed a series of reforms to "ensure the future of Europe". Macron did not call for certain countries to be expelled from the EU but criticised members of the Schengen area who do not follow the unified policy on asylum and immigration.

"All those who want to be part of it [Schengen area] should comply with obligations of responsibility (stringent border controls) and solidarity (a single asylum policy with common acceptance and refusal rules). We will need a common border force and a European asylum office, strict control obligations and European solidarity to which each country will contribute under the authority of a European Council for Internal Security."

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that the EU is falling apart.

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  • Reported in: Issue 151
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/05/2019
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: EU, France
  • Keywords: Schengen, Emmanuel Macron
  • Outlet: Sputnik Georgia
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European mainstream parties and media use Russpohobia to win the European elections

With European Parliament elections looming, the establishment parties and mainstream media are reaching for the playbook of US Democrats and hyping the specter of ‘Russia’ to drive voters away from the rising tide of populism.

It is the same as ‘Russiagate’ hysteria in the US – the same that failed to win the 2016 election for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, failed to sway the electors into overruling the vote, failed to get Trump impeached, but succeeded in lining the pockets of various “experts” and think-tank grifters, as well as media figures willing to play fast and loose with facts.

May 26, 2019
Disproof

Conspiracy theory consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russophobia.

Russia's attempts at interfering in democratic processes in the US and Europe have been well documented. 

Current socio-economic situation of Poland is worse than in the communist times

In many areas, the III RP (The Third Republic – a term used to describe Poland after 1989) is not even close to the achievements of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL – a term used to describe Poland under communist regime, 1944-1989), starting from unemployment levels.

In no other EU country is the income inequality indicator as high as in Poland.

May 26, 2019
Disproof

No evidence given. Examples used in the text are part of a recurring narrative glorifying repressive communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. See examples here and here.

Under the communist regime, unemployment didn't officially exist, and the full employment was named as a target in the constitution of 1952. In fact, the inefficient labour market, along with overblown state administration created a separate category of unemployment - so called 'unemployment in places of employment'. It meant that even though everybody was employed officially, many people were in fact redundant - some data say that this phenomenon reached as many as 50% of employed people. Moreover, no reliable data about economy in the Polish People’s Republic is available, as the state deceived their public and each other with the statistics.

Historically, the West has always been barbaric and similar to ISIS

From a philosophical and historical point of view, the West has never progressed beyond barbarity and human prehistoric times which included the periods of slavery, feudalism and capitalism. In contrast to the West, the Soviet Union started the real history of humanity and communism can be considered a genuine form of civilisation. Historically, the West is like the Cilician pirate state in the past or in the present, the terrorist organisation ISIS.

May 26, 2019
Disproof

Although the West's history (and indeed, this is applicable to any other region of the world) does indeed include skeletons in its closet, to draw a similarity between it and ISIS is an outrageous, extreme and ungrounded accusation aimed to discredit the West. See similar cases here, including claims that the West is a terrorist structure, the West is fascist, and that the US and EU countries support Russophobic, neofascist, terrorist political parties and movements in the post-Soviet space.

ISIS is a Salafi jihadist militant group and former unrecognised proto-state that follows a fundamentalist, Salafi doctrine of Sunni Islam. In 2015-2017, ISIS claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks outside Iraq in Syria, including in Tunisia, Turkey, Belgium, France, Germany, Russia and other countries. ISIL has been classified a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union and its member states, the United States, Russia, India, Turkey and many other countries.

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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.