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Disinfo: Membership in NATO shapes Polish historical policy

Summary

Poland occupies an important position in NATO as the Polish Army is one of the largest in this organisation – that is why Warsaw is forced to promote a specific type of historical policy (presentation of Poland as a defender from the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and modern “hybrid” Russia).

Disproof

This message distorts the nature of NATO membership – this organisation is a political and military union; it does not “force” its members to promote certain messages in their historical policies. See other disinformation narratives about NATO here.

The Polish historians pay careful attention to the study of conflicts with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union not because of “an important position of Poland in NATO”, but because of the high historical meaning of these wars for Poland. In total, there were about 18 major Polish-Russian wars and military conflicts between the XV and XX centuries.

See other examples of disinformation on the Russia-Poland relations here and here.

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publication/media

Sputnik Poland (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 160
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/08/2019
  • Language/target audience: Polish
  • Country: Russia, Poland
  • Keywords: NATO

Disclaimer

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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