Disinfo: EU will fall apart in 20-30 years

Summary

The coronavirus pandemic in Europe caused an economic shock of a completely unexpected magnitude. The EU is losing its unity, its’ countries are in deep crisis. The EU project will die no later than 2040-2050.

Disproof

This claim exploits the coronavirus pandemic to push a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU's alleged imminent collapse. There is no evidence to support the claim that the pandemic is resulting in the death, or obsolescence, of the EU. 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 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. EU Member States are helping each other in this crisis; for example, German hospitals have offered to treat critical coronavirus patients from France as well as taking in patients from Italy and the Czech Republic has sent masks to Italy. Read more about the EU's response here and here.

Go to search

publication/media

news-front.info (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 205
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/07/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: EU
  • Keywords: EU budget, coronavirus, Euro-scepticism, EU disintegration
see more

Disinfo: The SBU is today's Gestapo

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been named Gestapo on the territory of “de jure Ukraine”. The crimes committed by the SBU are without limits. They commit atrocities both against the peaceful population of the Ukraine and the citizens of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic. A report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published in June 2016 found that the SBU detained and tortured people incommunicado and confirms the existence of secret SBU prisons.

Jul 01, 2020
Disproof

This is a new take on an already well known Russian disinformation narrative, attempting to portray Ukraine as a Nazi state. The June 2016 report by the OHCHR on human rights in Ukraine did highlight that arbitrary detentions and torture, several of them committed by the SBU, are a considerable problem. The scale of these detentions is unknown. The report notes that in early 2015, 72 people might have been detained in the Kharkiv SBU. The report also emphasizes that the majority of the incidents were committed in the conflict zone at the time. However, in line with standard Russian disinformation methods, the article fails to reveal that the same report also condemns the armed separatist groups for "killings, abductions, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment in territories controlled by them. The Nazis performed a deliberate, systematic and mechanized extermination of European Jewry, political opposition and "undesirables" throughout the Nazi-occupied territories. Comparing any wrongdoings by Ukrainian authorities cannot be compared to the war crimes of the Nazi system.

Disinfo: Russian Media are being discriminated in Baltic states

Sputnik Latvia regularly talks about discrimination against Russian media in the Baltic countries. Since January 1, Estonia has actually banned the work of the Sputnik editorial office in Tallinn, threatening employees with criminal prosecution. In Latvia, Sputnik employees are also pressured not only in the form of “conversations” with representatives of the special services, but also through an informal ban on opening bank accounts for them. This (ban on broadcasting of RT) is another case of violation of freedom of speech and freedom of information. The decision to ban RT in Latvia on the basis of false information is an indicator of the stupidity of the Latvian authorities blinded by Russophobia.

Jul 01, 2020
Disproof

This claim tries to portray EU sanctions on Russia, the result of its illegal actions in Ukraine, as unfair persecution against Sputnik and its employees, and against media freedom in general. In all of the mentioned countries Sputnik and RT are being accused of spreading disinformation, violating copyrights, acting as a propaganda instrument.

In Estonia, Sputnik is wrongly represented as a victim of unprecedented persecution. This kind of statements were debunked several times. Read here. The steps taken by Estonia are based on the Article 2 of the Council Regulation (EU) No 269/2014 on the territorial integrity of Ukraine that foresees freezing the assets of Dmitry Kiselyov, the Director-General of Rossija Segodnya.

Disinfo: The West interferes in Russian and Chinese affairs, organises colour revolutions

A recently adopted Hong Kong law eliminates the vulnerability of inadequate countermeasures to colour revolutions, which Western countries are masters at. The intensity of efforts by the collective West to prevent legal amendments in Hong Kong is explained by the reasoning applied by Western puppeteers. Advocates of capitulation to the West are ready to man the barricades and use subversive activities only if they do not face any consequences. “Colour” revolutionaries want money, power, comfort, and social approval. As soon as they are deprived of comfort, the wish to take part in political life runs out to zero. The West’s attempts to interfere in China’s domestic affairs proves that anti-Russian sanctions allegedly linked to the Crimea referendum, in reality have nothing to do with Russian actions. Inevitable anti-China sanctions linked to Hong Kong will not have anything to do with Beijing’s actions either. Sanctions and interference in Russian and Chinese domestic affairs by the West will take place in any case, convenient excuses will just be used.

Jul 01, 2020
Disproof

This is a conspiracy theory consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about Western influence behind the protests in Hong Kong and the West's anti-Russian activities.The pro-Kremlin media frequently use disinformation narratives about popular protests allegedly incited and funded by the US around the world, including colour revolutions in post-Soviet states, the “Arab Spring” revolts, Euromaidan in Ukraine, protests in Catalonia and others. The protests in Hong Kong started in June 2019 when hundreds of thousands of people protested against a legislative proposal that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China. The protests continued for months, as they morphed into a battle over Beijing’s deepening control of the city. Protesters demanded electoral reforms and an independent investigation into police violence. Chinese state-run media sought to discredit the protesters, calling their actions “terrorism,” and to spread disinformation. Crimea is a part of Ukraine and was illegally annexed by Russia. In 2014, Russian troops obliged the parliament of Crimea to organise a referendum, which was illegitimate under international law, and then formally annexed the peninsula and brought it under Russian territorial control. The EU's policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol includes a set of restrictive measures against entities and individuals responsible for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Britain and US are organising the protests in Hong Kong, the Luciferian Zionist Rothschild crime family controls the Western mainstream media, and the West always dreams of splitting Russia.