Disinfo: Europe should talk with Lukashenka because he is the legitimate president of Belarus

Summary

Europe is ready to talk with Talibs (who are terrorists) but refuses to talk with Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who came to power during elections. You could like or not the results of elections but Alyaksandr Lukashenka is a legitimate president. So, Europe should talk with the Belarusian president directly.

Disproof

The message is linked to the topic of the presidential elections in Belarus in August 2020 and contains several manipulations.

The comparison of the situation in Afghanistan with that in Belarus is not correct. The EU is ready to make minimal needful contacts with the Taliban but it does not mean recognition and legitimisation of Talib's regime. The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borell explains: “In order to support the Afghan population, we will have to engage with the new government in Afghanistan, which does not mean recognition, it is an operational engagement”.

As for Alyaksandr Lukashenka as Belarusian president, the European Union rejects the legitimacy of Lukashenka’s regime. After the presidential election in August 2020, people in Belarus revolted against election fraud and police violence towards thousands of rally participants. On 19 August 2020, the European Council called Belarusian elections neither free nor fair.

According to statistical data and independent observers, the official result of the presidential election was heavily doctored. A joint monitoring effort by three NGOs demonstrates the scale of falsification based on election protocols from 1,310 polling stations across Belarus and concludes that the announced result (80% of votes cast for Lukashenka) is mathematically “impossible” (p. 7). An analysis by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper shows that excluding “anomalous” voting districts from the official tally would see Lukashenka's percentage drop to 43%, and Tsikhanouskaya's surge to 45%, in which case a second round would have to be called.

See more examples of disinformation linked to the topic of the presidential elections in Belarus in 2020: OSCE’s position on Belarus was decided even before the elections happened; Lukashenka was inaugurated in accordance with Belarusian law; External forces tried to exploit the election in Belarus to ignite a colour revolution.

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rossaprimavera.ru (Archived)
Moskovskij Komsomolets (Archived)
sputniknews.lt (Archived)
RIA (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 258
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/09/2021
  • Article language(s) Russian, Lithuanian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Belarus, Afghanistan, EU, Europe
  • Keywords: Alexander Lukashenko, Elections, Terrorism
see more

Disinfo: Washington and Brussels implement information war against people of Russia and Belarus

The West is using information warfare to destroy cultural and worldview spheres of life in Russia and Belarus. It is the war for consciousness. The purpose is to re-format the consciousness of the people of Russia and Belarus according to the matrix from Washington and Brussels.

Sep 09, 2021
Disproof

A recurring narrative about alleged Western information war against Russia and Belarus.

The claim that Washington or Brussels want to affect or change the consciousness of inhabitants of Russia or Belarus is not supported by evidence.

Disinfo: Claims about Russian contacts in Catalonia are a stupid forgery

A New York Times article claiming that there were contacts between an advisor to the former Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Russia, cited a European intelligence report that the newspaper's reporters were able to see, while it later turned out to be a stupid forgery.

The newspaper claimed that Josep Lluís Alay, a senior advisor to the former Catalan President, met with Russian businessman Alexander Dmitrenko, foreign intelligence officials and Oleg Syromolotov, who is responsible for combating terrorism and serves as Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister. Syromolotov had never met Josep Lluís Alay in Moscow and outside Russia, and had no contacts with him, either in the past or the present.

Sep 09, 2021
Disproof

Recurrent self-victimisation technique to deny a piece of embarrassing news and qualify it as Russophobia or planned provocation.

The article from the New York Times is based on a report from European intelligence that synthesises a long investigation that included the interception of conversation between pro-independence figures in Catalonia. The leak from the Spanish police was also consulted by other media organisations like OCCRP or El Pais.

Disinfo: G20 countries recognised Sputnik V as the best drug for coronavirus prevention

G20 countries recognised Sputnik V as the best drug for coronavirus prevention. During their interventions at a G20 meeting, health ministers were saying that Sputnik V was the best vaccine against COVID-19.

Sep 09, 2021
Disproof

The statement is unfounded, part of a years-long campaign by pro-Kremlin outlets and officials to promote the Sputnik V vaccine internationally.

The claim was, unsurprisingly, made by Russia’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko during the 4th Forum of Social Innovations of the Regions, a domestic event in Moscow, but there is no G20-evidence to back it. There is no official statement by G20 health ministers addressing this question. Significantly, Murashko’s official comments immediately after the meeting didn’t pick such remarkable affirmations, focusing only on calling G20 member countries to recognise each other’s vaccines.