DISINFO: Lithuania was a direct beneficiary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: lv.sputniknews.ru (archived)*
  • Date of publication: September 23, 2019
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 165
  • Countries / regions discussed: Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Latvia
Tags:
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact European Parliament Historical revisionism European Union Baltic states Nazi/Fascist

DISINFO: Lithuania was a direct beneficiary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

SUMMARY

Before the European Parliament starts equalising Stalinism and Nazism, it would have been a good idea to get things sorted out with the Nazism as such. Why is the resolution only condemning German Nazism? Why isn’t it compared with, for instance, Nazism in the Baltic states: Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian. The resolution was initiated by representatives of Lithuania, which brings the manipulation of facts to an entirely new level. Remember: as a result of the division of Poland, Lithuania got a sizable piece of its territory – the Vilnius area. If the non-aggression pact between USSR and Germany, also known as the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact, as was a criminal act; Lithuania was a direct beneficiary of this crime, performed 80 years ago.

RESPONSE

This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism – it tries to promote the idea that there was no Soviet occupation of the Baltic states and that the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact did not cause the division of East and Central Europe between the USSR and Nazi Germany, causing WWII. See similar cases on the Baltic states and the Soviet occupation here and here. In a statement, the Press Office of the European Parliament elaborates on the resolution, mentioned in the claim:

MEPs voice concern at the efforts of the current Russian leadership to whitewash crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime and see them as a “dangerous component of the information war waged against democratic Europe”. They also condemn extremist and xenophobic political forces and organisations in Europe for distorting historical facts, and employing the symbolism and rhetoric of totalitarian propaganda, including racism, anti-Semitism and hatred towards sexual and other minorities.

Full text of the resolution can be found here.

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Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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