Disinfo: NATO is like a "zombie" that eats its member states

Summary

Obsolete, superfluous, sounds downright cute. It’s as if the NATO states only had to stop paying and then leave the alliance cheerfully and without any obligation. But already on the way to the alleged end of NATO, the zombie eats the people alive: the undead demands two percent of the gross domestic product so that he can continue to threaten the world. In Germany alone, that would be 60 billion euros. That eats schools, roads, hospitals and ultimately the patients themselves. NATO is the highest expression of dying capitalism, a system that makes its profits from war and the threat of war. A system that eats up its states alive. A system that risks the atomic destruction of the earth to cement its own rule until the end of the capitalist horror film.

Disproof

This disinformation message is aimed at undermining the image of NATO, trying to portray NATO as a totalitarian dysfunctional military alliance that oppresses and humiliates its member states. It is consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on member states' subordination to NATO and NATO's belligerent agenda. When it comes to NATO's decisions, they are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries. Indeed, NATO respects the right of every country to choose its own security arrangements. In fact, Article 13 of the Washington Treaty specifically gives Allies the right to leave. Over the past 65 years, 29 countries have chosen freely, and in accordance with their domestic democratic processes, to join NATO. Not one has asked to leave. This is their sovereign choice. Germany's defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer plans to increase military spending to the NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product. NATO is an intergovernmental organisation that is funded by its member countries, including Germany. Member countries make direct and indirect contributions to the costs of running NATO and implementing its policies and activities to guarantee their common security strategy. Also, NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its' member states. Read similar cases alleging that NATO is the global fuse to ignite a war, NATO tries to achieve security through very aggressive actions and that NATO is looking for a reason to start military action against Belarus and Russia.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 173
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 12/11/2019
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: security threat, International, Western values, West, War preparation, NATO
see more

Disinfo: What is happening in Ukraine is a Western project

What is happening in Ukraine now is a completely Western project. Co-production from the USA and the EU. They supported the coup in 2014, and dragged Poroshenko, turning a blind eye to everything.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative painting the 2013-14 protests in Kyiv as a coup orchestrated by the West, and alleging that Russia's armed aggression in east Ukraine is a civil war. It's also a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative undermining the statehood of Ukraine. The message also repeats disinformation narratives about EU and US relations with Ukraine. 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. The EU and the US support 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. There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. The war in eastern Ukraine is not a civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014.

Disinfo: Ukraine is a completely artificial country

From how many pieces is Ukraine shaped? It is completely artificial. There are Poles, there are Hungarians, there are Romanians, there are Russians. Where is Ukraine?

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the history of Ukraine and Ukrainian statehood. The history of Ukraine dates back to the times of the Kyivan Rus’ in the IX-XIII centuries. As a nation-state, Ukraine was formed during the XVI-XIX centuries when it was divided by major European states: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita) and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. However, in the middle of the XVII century, parts of Ukraine's territories received independence from Poland and created an independent Cossacks Hetmanate. Later, it signed a military and political cooperation deal with Moscow, which was then used by Russian rulers to deprive Hetmanate of its sovereign rights. In the early XX century, after the collapse of the Russian empire, the Ukrainian People’s Republic was proclaimed. In Western Ukraine, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Western Ukrainian National Republic was created. On 22 January 1919, the two states signed a Unification Act creating a unified state. Other territories wanted to join the new Ukrainian state, such as Northern Bukovyna and Crimea and appealed to the government of a unified Ukrainian People’s Republic.