Disinfo: EU way to deal with COVID-19 pandemic turns into fiasco

Summary

The situation (in Europe) reminds the situation one year ago when the European Union was helpless in facing the crisis. Members of the EU had to deal with the crisis on their own.

One year ago the situation could be described as force majeure. It shows that Brussels is incapable when a fast reaction is needed.

Today the situation shows collapse on the main vectors. The policy of lockdowns in Europe turns into a fiasco. The situation of vaccination could be described as “a catastrophe” (especially compared to countries the EU wanted to teach how to deal with pandemic).

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the EU left member states alone to fight coronavirus. This narrative aims to undermine European and transatlantic solidarity in face of the crisis.

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 has proposed setting up a EUR 37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. Read more about the EU's response here and here.

Statistics also show that situation of vaccination in the EU is not catastrophic (see statistical data here or here). At the moment (March 4, 2021) the European Union by the number of vaccinated persons per 100 inhabitants is twice ahead of Russia.

See other examples of disinformation in the context of coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic: The West tries to complicate the process of the Russian vaccine entering the international market; EMA’s delay in approving Sputnik V is political; COVID-19 revealed how divided Europe is and how giving Russia is.

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  • Reported in: Issue 236
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 03/03/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian, Lithuanian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU
  • Keywords: coronavirus, vaccination, Brussels, EU disintegration
see more

Disinfo: The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service has become a Russophobic propaganda machine

The Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service has become a Russophobic propaganda machine. Its latest 2021 security report is propaganda and psychological warfare aimed at portraying Russia and its foreign policy in a negative light.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

The geopolitica.ru article repeats pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to depict Western accusations of aggressive Russian behavior as baseless and driven solely by "Russophobia". This narrative is often targeting the Baltic States and Poland. See a recent EUvsDisinfo insight.

The claim that Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS) is a “Russophobic propaganda machine” is incorrect. The main function of EFIS (Välisluureamet) is to collect, analyse and report on Estonia's external security threats.

Disinfo: NATO would collapse if it abandoned the concept of the "Russian threat"

NATO would begin to collapse if it abandoned the concept of the "Russian threat".

The alliance does not address any of the real challenges facing the Western world, such as terrorism or the Coronavirus pandemic, but rather, it completely fights invented and hypothetical threats.

"Russian threat" has become the only pretext and basis for the existence of NATO and the preservation of the US strategic control over Europe. Without this phantom threat, the alliance will begin to crumble.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Western Russophobia and alleged belligerent NATO, portraying the Alliance as a threat to peace and Russia, and is consistent with recurring portrayal on NATO member states' subordination to the US.

NATO is in no way directed against Russia or any other state. NATO’s objectives are set out in the 1949 Washington Treaty which forms the legal basis of the alliance. The treaty states that parties “are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defence and for the preservation of peace and security”.

Disinfo: External aggression against Belarus is just beginning

If earlier the main burden of organising a coup d'etat in Belarus was borne by the small Eastern European subordinates like Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine, then the change of power in the US brought heavy artillery into the process. On November 5, 2020, the OSCE published the "Report of the OSCE Rapporteur in the framework of the Moscow Mechanism in connection with reports of human rights violations in the context of the presidential elections in Belarus", whose recommendations are unprecedented interference in the internal affairs of Belarus and, in fact, a demand to abolish the Constitution and laws of the country, renounce sovereignty and put the state under external control. Thus, the OSCE explicitly demands "to cancel the results of the presidential elections on August 9, 2020 and to organise a new genuine presidential election on the basis of international standards under the supervision of the OSCE / ODIHR."

It is quite obvious that external aggression against Belarus is just beginning and is gaining momentum. The stake was made on a coup and seizure of power by a handful of grant-eaters who are obedient puppets of the West.

Mar 02, 2021
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative framing popular protests as Western-backed 'colour revolutions', part of a campaign to portray massive mobilisations in Belarus as a destabilisation effort orchestrated from abroad.

There is no evidence that Poland, Lithuania or any other Western governments are involved in the protests in Belarus. There was no coup in Belarus. Protests erupted to contest the results of the presidential election in Belarus on the 9th of August 2020, which were not monitored by independent experts and are largely considered fraudulent by both international observers and a big part of Belarusian society. Mobilisations were organised and carried out by local actors, opposition politicians, and Belarusian citizens, without any foreign involvement. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called the Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.