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Disinfo: General Staff of National Army prepares Moldova to join NATO

Summary

The General Staff is openly preparing the national army for the prospective entry into the Western military bloc and the Alliance’s peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the African continent.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation narratives about EU/ NATO enlargement and the West's strategy of encircling Russia, where each military exercise of Moldovan soldiers is presented as a part of a secret plan to join NATO. A similar case can be found here. According to the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Moldova, the military exercises "Agile Hunter 2019" and "Sea Breeze 2019", to which the reference is made, aim to train soldiers and officers for peacekeeping operations. On top of that, Moldova has never declared its intention to join NATO. It is a constitutionally neutral state, and NATO fully respects Moldova’s constitutional neutrality, as stated on its official web site. Relations with NATO started in 1992, when Moldova joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, aiming to draw closer to Euro-Atlantic standards and institutions. Concerning a possible enlargement, at the moment, NATO counts 29 states and currently, four partner countries have declared their aspirations for NATO membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, the Republic of North Macedonia and Ukraine.

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publication/media

Moldavskie Vedomosti (Archived)
fondsk.ru
  • Reported in: Issue 157
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/07/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Country: Moldova
  • Keywords: Encircling Russia, EU/NATO enlargement, NATO
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There was a Maidan coup d’état in Ukraine

The behaviour of Ukrainian elites on the international stage after the Maidan coup d’état can be described in relation to Russia with a short formula – “Us versus them”.

Jun 30, 2019
Disproof

There was no coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014; this is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by several segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk here.

The United States is preparing Ukraine for a new provocation against Russia

The United States is making preparations for Ukraine to launch a new provocation against Russia in the Black and Azov Seas. The international military exercises “Sea Breeze 2019” need Ukraine in order to work out a plan to seize the Russian Crimea. Washington and Kyiv also intend to exacerbate the situation and present Russia in an unfavourable light.

Jun 30, 2019
Disproof

During the years of aggression against Ukraine, Russian propaganda has already developed a list of narratives that are used in an information war. Any joint military exercises immediately receive the status of "provocation" from Russian media. The Ukrainian-American training "Sea Breeze" also did not avoid this fate, although it's not the first time they are held in Ukraine. This year the exercises started on 1 July and are taking place in three regions of Ukraine: Mykolayiv, Kherson and Odesa. The military exercises of Ukraine, the United States and some NATO countries involved 28 ships and 27 aircraft. The main components of the manoeuvres are sea, land and aerial training. They are not aimed at "developing military provocations" against Russia or "working on an offensive" for annexed Crimea, but rather to enhance the defensive capability of Ukraine and to exchange experience with other countries. This year, one of the main accents of the manoeuvres is to protect the state border of Ukraine.

A weakened global liberal elite stages Russophobic events throughout the world

The 2019 G20 summit served to confirm that a new global model – where the EU will find itself an outsider – is coming to replace the liberal globalised model. On the eve of the summit, Vladimir Putin rightly stated in his interview to the Financial Times that the liberal idea has become obsolete. A series of Russophobic events in Georgia, Latvia, Ukraine etc. preceding the G20 summit were organised by the global (quasi)liberal ruling class.

Jun 29, 2019
Disproof

Conspiracy theory consistent with a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russophobia. The message implies that the mighty but weakening global liberal elites stage protests and other anti-Russian events in various countries because of a fundamental dislike of Russia or Russians. This claim casts any spontaneous disorders and civil uprisings in other states as US-funded "colour revolutions".

In response to Vladimir Putin's comments about liberalism becoming obsolete, EU President Donald Tusk stated: "I have to say that I strongly disagree with the main argument that liberalism is obsolete. We are here as Europeans also to firmly and univocally defend and promote liberal democracy. Whoever claims that liberal democracy is obsolete, also claims that freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete. For us in Europe, these are and will remain essential and vibrant values. What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective."