Disinfo: EU economy at the point Russia was in early 1990s

Summary

The liberal economic model is crumbling. The US seems to abandon this model. When it comes to the EU’s economy, it is seriously deteriorating. The situation with the EU's economy is very similar to what Russia witnessed back in 1990-1991.

Disproof

This article draws false parallels between the EU's economic development and that of the USSR's and fits into a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU's alleged imminent collapse.

Despite the Kremlin's decision to limit gas supplies to Europe and the effects of Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, the EU economy is recovering from the crisis created by COVID-19. The summer 2022 economic forecast projects that the EU economy will grow by 2.7% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023, as reported by the European Commission in July 2022. According to data from the World Bank, Russia’s GDP in 1990-1992 contracted by over 15%.

Unlike the USSR, which was a totalitarian state with communist ideology as official policy, a command economy, and very limited civic and political rights, the EU has a market economy, high standards of human rights protection, and no dominant ideology, contrary to the allegations made. There is no evidence to support the claim that the EU is facing the same problems the late USSR did, particularly given that the EU is a supranational entity consisting of sovereign countries rather than a centralised totalitarian country as the USSR was.

Pro-Kremlin outlets often paint ungrounded gloomy forecasts for the EU’s economic and political prospects. For instance, during the initial stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, they claimed that a number of EU countries were teetering on the brink of default, that the coronavirus put the EU’s existence into question, and that many European countries will likely cease to exist at all.

Technical remark: This disinformation was broadcast via Sputnik on 20 October 2022. Due to the EU decision to restrict the spread and dissemination of RT and Sputnik inside the EU, access to the link may not work inside the EU.

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publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 314
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 20/10/2022
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, EU
  • Keywords: USSR, Economic difficulties
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