Disinfo: NATO exploits the idea of a “Russian threat” to deploy near Russian borders

Summary

NATO is very much aware that Moscow has no intention of attacking anyone, but NATO exploits the “Russian threat” as a pretext for deploying more military personnel and equipment near Russian borders. The “Russian threat” is periodically used as a bogeyman by politicians of some NATO countries, particularly Poland and the Baltic states. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that Russia will never attack any NATO country.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the “Russian threat” is a false idea, created by the US and other Western actors to isolate and encircle Russia. According to this narrative, the US and NATO have deliberately created a false image of an aggressive Russia. The article repeats a particular version of this narrative claiming that the “imaginary Russian threat” is only a pretext for stationing more NATO military contingents near Russian borders.

NATO’s concern about Russia’s security challenges to the alliance is genuine and not a pretext for stationing more NATO military resources near Russia’s borders. Ever since the 2014 Ukraine crisis, NATO and Western governments have been genuinely concerned about Russia’s increasingly aggressive foreign and military policies and about the challenges posed by Russia to Transatlantic security.

Until the Ukraine crisis, NATO consistently worked to build a cooperative relationship with Russia. For more than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, NATO's strategy was based on the perception that Russia no longer posed a security threat and should increasingly be viewed as a partner for the Alliance.

This perception changed after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine in early 2014, which was was widely viewed both in North America and in Europe as violating the basic rules of the post-Cold War European order, especially the rule that borders are inviolable and the states should not use force to alter them or take territory from other states. As a result of Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine, many Western states - including key EU members such as Germany and France critically reassessed their “strategic partnership” policies towards Russia and began to perceive Russia as a serious challenge to the European security order while Poland and the Baltic states perceived Russian intervention in Ukraine as a clear threat to their national security.

Moreover, in the past six years European governments and security services have been increasingly concerned about Russian hostile influence activities aimed at weakening the EU and NATO, fermenting divisions in societies and discrediting and destabilising liberal democracies. Such activities – often described as “hybrid threats” – include cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, interference in political processes, energy pressures, intelligence operations, the strategic use of corruption and the deployment of unmarked military personnel.

Read similar cases claiming that the US has created a false image of an aggressive Russia in order to prevent close Europe-Russia economic cooperation and that the idea of a Russian threat to Europe exists only in the minds of Cold War nostalgics or is a deliberate invention of certain countries.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 218
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22/10/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Italian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, Baltic states, Russia
  • Keywords: Military, Encircling Russia, NATO, Russophobia
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Disinfo: Washington is preparing a colour revolution in Moldova

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Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging the West has an anti-Russian policy and claiming that popular unrests in post-Soviet space are colour revolutions directed against Russia. There is no evidence of US interference in upcoming elections in Moldova. The US supports a free and fair electoral process in Moldova. "Regardless of what choice the Moldovan people make on Election Day, the United States will remain a faithful partner to the Moldovan people and this country’s sovereign right to choose its own path. We support and join in your struggle to build a bright, prosperous, and democratic future for yourselves and your children", said Dereck J. Hogan, US Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova. See similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine is stirring up revolutions in Belarus and Russia, that Belarus is under attack by the unilateral globalist world to indirectly destabilise Vladimir Putin, that Berlin sets a course of containment towards Russia, or that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict favours US interests diverting Russia from Belarus and Syria.

Disinfo: The Pope supports same-sex couples because Catholicism is about business

The Pope supports same-sex couples because Catholicism is “corporation and a business”, not a spiritual community. This is the main difference between Russia and the West, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. The Pope wants to make money. It is important for him that there is a full house on St. Peter’s Square so that mugs and T-shirts with the Pope are sold profitably.

Disproof

This disinformation message is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about Western moral decay. In this case, the article represents an attempt to defamation of Catholic Church and Pope Francis. This message comes as the reaction to Pope Francis's recent call for civil union laws for same-sex couples. In a documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, Pope Francis made the comments, which observers say are his clearest remarks yet on gay relationships. As reported by the New York Times, "The remarks in the documentary were in keeping with Francis’ general support for gay people, but were perhaps his most specific and prominent on the issue of civil unions, which even traditionally Catholic nations like Italy, Ireland and Argentina have permitted in recent years." See more analysis here!

Disinfo: Biden's son has photos of underage girls on his laptop

The lawyer of US President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, said that sexual materials related to minors were allegedly found in the laptop of the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden. According to the messages that Trump’s lawyer showed, Hunter Biden allegedly wrote to his father that Hallie Biden accused him of inappropriate behaviour with minors – she did not like that naked Hunter was talking on FaceTime with a 14-year-old girl whose name was deliberately hidden in the correspondence.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory against the son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, accusing him of paedophilia. This is a recurring message, consistent with the pro-Kremlin's constant attacks against the US Democratic Party. There is no evidence that a laptop previously belonging to Hunter Biden contains child pornography. The allegation originated on the anonymous internet forum 4Chan, a known source of online disinformation. See more on PolitiFact.com. Joe Biden, at the same time, called this information a "desperate smear campaign against him and his family". See other examples in our database, such as claims that Joe Biden is preparing a coup, and his militants are setting the US on fire; that he is actually the president of Ukraine, where he has been personally profiteering; that he was behind 2019 protests in Georgia; that he admitted his personal involvement in preventing Putin from participating in the presidential race; or that his son pushed for war in eastern Ukraine to clear the territory for fracking.