Disinfo: Lithuanian authorities want to establish a military dictatorship

Summary

Lithuania could establish a military dictatorship as it was in 1926. As in the past, Lithuanian authorities in extreme situations will rely on the military. Today Lithuanian authorities are distanced from society and lose any connection to common people. The state of emergency is already declared in regions near the border but it could be very easy to expand it to all territories of the country.

Disproof

A recurring narrative about the undemocratic nature of the government of Lithuania.

The statement about the possibility of military dictatorship in modern Lithuania is groundless. Lithuania is a free country (by index “Freedom in the World”). It is recognised that “Lithuania is a democracy in which political rights and civil liberties are generally respected”. The country is a member of the EU and NATO. Today, allusions to the coup of 1926 can be interpreted only as baseless speculation.

The change of power happens in Lithuania during free and democratic elections (more information about elections in Lithuania can be found here).

The state of emergency is limited in scope and geography and is the result of the migration crisis on the border with Belarus; a situation created by the Lukashenko regime through instrumentalisation of irregular migrants brought from the Middle East and ferried via Minsk to the border with Lithuania.

See other examples of similar disinformation about Lithuania: Lithuania fell into a totalitarian dictatorship; Lithuania lost the “liberal curtain” after pressing the protests at home; Lithuania is a totalitarian country.

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sputniknews.lt (Archived)
lt.sputniknews.ru (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 258
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 09/09/2021
  • Article language(s) Lithuanian, Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Lithuania
  • Keywords: Totalitarianism, Military, Coup
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Disinfo: The EU continues to pursue a discriminatory policy with the Crimea Platform

The provocative nature of the Ukrainian leadership’s idea of holding the so-called “Crimea Platform” “summit” was recorded, despite the fact that the question of the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation was closed in March 2014. In this regard, attention is drawn to the fact that the European Union continues to pursue a discriminatory policy against inhabitants of the peninsula.

Relations between Moscow and Kyiv deteriorated after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, which led to the return of the Crimea to the bosom of Russia, and to the outbreak of armed conflict in the Donbas region (southeast of Ukraine) between Kyiv on the one hand and the "unrecognised" Donetsk and Luhansk republics on the other, which demanded more cultural and economic autonomy.

Sep 08, 2021
Disproof

An emerging disinformation narrative in response to the Crimea Platform Summit, a high-level international conference held on August 2021 that was initiated by Ukraine and focused on Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula, while claiming that the foundation of the DPR and LPR came as a response to the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv painted as a coup d'état.

Although Russia attempted to disguise its military occupation of Crimea with a hastily organised sham referendum in March 2014, there is no international recognition of Russia's actions. Several major countries and international organisations have overwhelmingly rejected this charade, including in multiple UN General Assembly resolutions and EU statements. European Council President Charles Michel emphasised during the first Crimea Platform Summit the “EU's unwavering stance: we do not and will not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia."

Disinfo: The West uses Russian protest movements as a fifth column to destabilise Russia

The West – the US and its satellite, the EU - uses a fifth column and a sixth column inside Russia to destabilise Russia and attack its sovereignty. The 5th column is made up of protest movements and the liberal press in Russia. The 6th column is made up of Russia’s liberal pro-Western elite that enjoys a dominant position in Russia's economy, educational system, foreign policy, and culture. The 5th column and the 6th column both have the same supervisors, sources of support, and systems of communication. The sixth column secretly sympathises with protest movements but is outwardly loyal to Putin. Russian actors that support and develop a culture of liberalism are usually involved in providing classified information to the West and in organising direct actions of sabotage and destabilisation in Russia.

Sep 08, 2021
Disproof

This article repeats a narrative, increasingly spread by pro-Kremlin outlets, claiming that the West is waging a hybrid war against Russia. This narrative fits into the broader disinformation themes about the West’s allegedly belligerent and hostile agenda against Russia, about its alleged plans to destabilise and encircle Russia, and about Western support for “colour revolutions”.

The article’s message is also consistent with the recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that Western intelligence services have recruited Russian opposition politicians and independent journalists to conduct espionage, sabotage and destabilisation operations against the Russian state. It adds a new twist to this narrative by alleging that many highly influential top-level Russian officials have also been recruited as Western intelligence assets and are also carrying out such operations. There is no factual evidence to support the article’s claims.

Disinfo: Latvia has been promoting Nazism for the last 30 years

Since the day of Latvian independence 30 years ago, its domestic and foreign policies are aimed at the glorification of Nazism, justification of war crimes, and rewriting of history.

Sep 08, 2021
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazism in the Baltic countries. The accusation of Nazism is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets as explained in our past analysis Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.

It is also worth noting that in 1991, Latvia did not gain its independence for the first time but restored it after the long period of Soviet occupation. The Kremlin conducted a forced annexation of the Baltic states in June of 1940 following Soviet military occupation and the forced installation of “people’s governments”. On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression (Molotov-Ribbentrop) Pact whose secret protocols divided the territories belonging to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Romania into Soviet and Nazi spheres of influence. The Pact gave Stalin a free hand in the Baltic states.