Disinfo: NATO is a monstrous Cold War relic, which will provoke conflicts as long as it exists

Summary

We should close the Cold War era and establish a new global security system, which covers the entire world. NATO is a monstrous relic – it will keep provoking conflicts as long as it exists. This organisation cannot function another way – it always needs an enemy. That is why NATO should have been dissolved at the moment of the liquidation of the Warsaw Pact.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, portraying NATO as a threat to global peace because it has an aggressive agenda. NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. Its exercises and military deployments are not directed against Russia – or any other country. The claim that NATO is encircling or threatening Russia is one of the myths about this organization. NATO is regularly updating the military requirements for civilian infrastructure, at a time when there are increased challenges to security. Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and amid emerging security challenges in the Middle East and North Africa in 2014, NATO leaders at the Wales Summit adopted the Readiness Action Plan, a comprehensive package of enhanced collective defense and deterrent measures designed to ensure the transatlantic alliance could respond swiftly and firmly to changes in its security environment. See several other anti-NATO narratives such as NATO provoking Russia; NATO is fully subordinated to the USA; Eastern European countries as NATO “hostages” (Baltic states, Moldova, Poland).

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pl.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 169
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 08/10/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Polish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US, Russia
  • Keywords: West, Encircling Russia, NATO
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Disinfo: US and NATO military preparations remind Hitler's intervention

The U.S. and NATO have finished all the research and development of weapons and are currently putting them into service. This reminds of the intervention of the collective West in the person of Hitler in the USSR. He was allowed to gather the whole of Europe to attack our lands.

Oct 07, 2019
Disproof

This is a manipulative message consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about aggressive West and Western anti-Russian activities. By drawing groundless parallels between the present-day U.S. and NATO, on the one hand, and Nazi Germany, on the other, this publication also brings up West / Nazi narrative. The Nazi ideology and the present-time Western countries are based on opposite values ​​and principles. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. Read a past summary on how pro-Kremlin outlets use the accusation of Nazism to discredit the Western countries. See earlier disinformation publications claiming that the recent ruling elites of the West follow many concepts of Nazi Germany, that the EU was invented in the Third Reich and created by US agents, that the West had aggressive intentions against Russia and its allies just as in 1938, and that in 1941 Hitler’s Germany together with the EU attacked the Soviet Union.

Disinfo: Ukraine is a state formation, not a country

It is hard to name Ukraine a country because of external influence over it. It is rather a state formation, an engineered state.

Oct 07, 2019
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative, challenging Ukrainian statehood and painting the West as the puppet-master of Ukrainian politics.

Ukraine is recognised in international law as a sovereign nation-state, with its own flag, nationality, language and with a democratically-elected president and parliament. Ukraine is not controlled by any foreign government, while its sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by most of the free world but were violated by Russia in 2014. The EU works closely with Ukraine and supports the democratic development of Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter’s principles of non-interference into internal affairs and respect towards territorial integrity and political independence.

Disinfo: All NATO countries are subordinate to the US

The levels of sovereignty and independence of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent Countries, Eurasian Economic Union, or the Collective Security Treaty Organisation are much larger than of the NATO or EU countries. What would happen to any NATO country which dares to oppose the US’s intention to station a military base on its territory? The US does not have partners, all are subordinates. The West does not have a partnership culture. It sees other civilisations as those which have to be taught how to live. The British guidelines of communication with the aboriginal people read: if others do not get it, speak louder. This is the Western way of dealing with other countries.

Oct 07, 2019
Disproof

This disinformation message is aimed at undermining the image of the EU and NATO in light of allegedly more effective international organisations in the post-Soviet space in terms of inclusiveness in the decision making processes. It is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on the EU and NATO member states' subordination to the US. Furthermore, the "lack of a partnership culture" argument is consistent with the pro-Kremlin narrative on the morally corrupt West aimed at portraying Russia as superior to the West in terms of values and morals. See earlier cases alleging that in contrast to Russia, western Europe is abandoning Christian roots and that unlike Russia, the West is not about fairness or solidarity and it degrades traditional values and endangers societies. The EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions about their own security and policies. The US is an important ally to the EU but EU policy is not determined by the US, as explained by the EU High Representative. When it comes to NATO's decisions, they are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries. Individual NATO member states have overseas bases on the basis of bilateral agreements and the principle of consent of the host-nation, in contrast with Russian bases on the territory of Moldova (Transnistria), Ukraine (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) and Georgia (the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia). See earlier disinformation cases alleging that Europe is occupied by the US and has limited sovereignty, and the EU is directed by Washington.