Disinfo: Latvia has no say in NATO thus the money spent on NATO is an occupation fee

Summary

The President of Latvia offered to share independence lessons with Zelenskyy. But Latvia is not so independent itself. If Latvia was truly independent, it would not have encouraged foreign military bases on its soil. Latvia has no say in NATO and thus, money that Latvia spends on NATO’s presence is, in fact, an occupation fee.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the Baltic states' lost sovereignty and their subordination to the US and NATO NATO is an organisation of collective defence established under the Washington Treaty. NATO member states make decisions through a consensus. Consensus decision-making is a fundamental principle which has been accepted as the sole basis for decision-making in NATO since the creation of the Alliance. Thus, each member of the alliance has similar say and all of them are involved in decision-making processes. Member countries make direct and indirect contributions to the costs of running NATO and implementing its policies and activities. In 2006, NATO Defence Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of two percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to spendings on defence. The 2% of Latvia's GDP for defence spending is mainly focused on strengthening the national defence capability to enhance combat and response skills of the Armed Forces and National Guard. See similar disinformation cases alleging that NATO buried Latvia's and Lithuania's independence and pumped 5 billion euros from Latvia in 15 years here and here.

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publication/media

sputnik-georgia.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 169
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 18/10/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Latvia
  • Keywords: Sovereignty, NATO
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Disproof

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Disinfo: German missions abroad are under foreign control and produce failed, corrupt states

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Oct 17, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about German-Western relations, that Germany is not sovereign or governed by "foreign control", and disinformation about German foreign missions. Pro-Kremlin outlets often use this disinformation narrative about different countries being under the American thumb - see other examples here. Germany is an independent and sovereign country and is not dependent on the United States of America in terms of foreign policy making and therefore it is a conspiracy theory presented without any evidence. Germany and the US have close partner relations of two sovereign and independent countries. The claims made about German foreign missions in Kosovo (KFOR) and Afghanistan (Resolute Support) are squandering and false. German missions abroad contribute to the long-term stabilisation of Kosovo and Afghanistan. Significant steps have already been taken to strengthen the security structures on the ground. According to the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), the number of asylum applications in Germany is declining in 2019. This trend has continued since 2015, since a gradual reduction in the number of refugees has been recorded in Germany. An excerpt from the Federal Office's current statistics for September 2019 (page 11 of 19). In the month under review, September 2019, 13,321 asylum procedures were decided by the Federal Office. Most decisions were made for Syria (3,370), Iraq (1,346) and Afghanistan (1,000). Compared to the previous month (15,040 decisions), the number of decisions fell by 11.4%. Compared to the previous year (September 2018: 16,008 decisions), the number of decisions on asylum applications fell by 16.8%. For other disinformation cases see: Germany is a vassal of the US; Germany is the executor of US hegemony over Europe; The USA is controlling Europe through occupied Germany; Germany will have to choose between defending Europe's interest and catering to Washington.