Disinfo: Lithuania wishes to sideline Belarus from coronavirus-related international aid

Summary

Lithuania wishes to prevent Belarus from receiving international aid from the EU and IMF for coping with the consequences of coronavirus epidemic. Lithuania wishes to get the largest amount of international aid itself.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory.

The disinformation message appeared after the Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda said that one cannot trust official Belarusian information about the coronavirus, adding that the situation in the neighbouring country may be worse than official data suggest.

As part of its global response to the coronavirus outbreak, the European Union is mobilising an emergency support package
for the Eastern Partnership countries, including Belarus. The emergency support package for the Eastern Partners consists of 80 mln euros for immediate needs and up to 883 mln euros to support the social and economic recovery of the region.

As the EU member state Lithuania will have an opportunity to use a different set of measures adopted by the European Commission: including a comprehensive economic response to the coronavirus outbreak, full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, and a €37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative.

See earlier examples of disinformation about Lithuania, alleging that the West forgot about the so-called Russian threat and the Baltic states amid coronavirus, that the Baltic states may not survive the coronavirus-related economic crisis, and that even the coronavirus did not distract Lithuania from the eternal disease called Russophobia.

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Reported in: Issue 193
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 02/04/2020
Language/target audience: Russian
Country: Lithuania, Belarus
Keywords: coronavirus, Conspiracy theory, IMF
Outlet: Sputnik Belarus @ Grani Formata @ time 00:30 - 01:00

HIV was found in the Coronavirus, hence it was engineered

The Coronavirus was created inside a laboratory, especially as HIV particles (AIDS) were found inside it.

April 20, 2020

Disproof

Recurring conspiracy theory about the novel coronavirus. There is no evidence to suggest that the virus was fabricated inside laboratories. The expert scientific consensus holds that the coronavirus has natural origins; there is no credible evidence supporting claims of laboratory engineering.

The claim that the COVID-19 contains artificially-introduced insertions from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), thereby proving it is man-made, is based on a preprint of a research study uploaded to bioRXiV on 2 February 2020.

Anglo-Saxons changing the rules and cancelling globalisation because China began to win

China won globalisation which made the Anglo-Saxons change the rules of the game because they cannot allow the Chinese to lead. The Anglo-Saxons decided to totally destroy the model of globalisation and to start from scratch, and this was basically implemented. The globalisation model was torn to pieces and we returned to the Westphalia system.

April 20, 2020

Disproof

This is a conspiracy theory aimed at discrediting the West and the so-called Anglo-Saxons. In the pro-Kremlin media, the term “Anglo-Saxons” means “evil”, “belligerent” and “morally corrupt” Westerners, as explained in our earlier analysis.

There are no grounds to believe that Anglo-Saxons crashed the globalisation system in order to prevent China's global leadership.

Konev’s monument in Prague was removed with the aim to insult Russia

Apparently, the transfers of Soviet war memorials in Poland, the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn or removal of Konev’s monument in Prague are not about domestic affairs but about the wish to insult Russia and provoke its emotional reaction. Instead, the Russian state started calmly and decisively to respond. Russian society’s emotions concerning these actions are similar to the ones that Islamists provoked upon destroying Buddha monuments in Afghanistan.

April 20, 2020

Disproof

This is a false claim and one of several disinformation cases about the statue of Marshall Konev in Prague. It is also consistent with common pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Russophobia and the supposedly hostile anti-Russian intentions of the West, based on which Russia can cast itself as the victim.

The democratically elected municipal council of Prague 6 voted for the removal of the statue. Using the protocol of the Politbureau's assembly, Czech historians established that on 8-14 May 1968 Konev chaired the Soviet military delegation sent to Prague to prepare the military invasion of Czechoslovakia. Konev was also chief of the Soviet troops in East Germany during the Berlin wall crisis in 1961. In other words, the Red Army brought not only liberation but also the terror to Czechia, as the mayor of Prague 6, Ondřej Kolář, reminded.