Disinfo: NATO is not a defensive alliance, it attacks countries illegitimately

Summary

Middle Eastern people, for instance from Libya, Afghanistan or Iraq, know from their own experience that NATO is not a defensive alliance. What they did in Belgrade is also very far from what a peaceful organisation would do.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation narrative concerning NATO's alleged aggressive policies.

NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states. NATO members are only obliged to join hostilities if a member state was attacked in Europe or North America. Article 5 was invoked only once, after the 9/11 attacks.

As for the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia, it came in response to a new wave of ethnic cleansing launched by Serbian forces against the Kosovar Albanians on 20 March 1999. The NATO operation for Kosovo in 1999 followed over a year of intense efforts by the UN and the Contact Group, of which Russia was a member, to bring about a peaceful solution. The NATO-led peacekeeping operation originally included Russia as well, which has been under UN mandate (UNSCR 1244).

Moreover, the NATO-led operation in Libya was launched under the authority of two UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR), 1970 and 1973, both quoting Chapter VII of the UN Charter, and neither of which were opposed by Russia.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 272
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 09/02/2022
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, Kosovo, Serbia, Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq
  • Keywords: US presence in Europe, Warmongering, NATO
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Disinfo: The Minsk agreements require "special legal status" for Donetsk

Russia is not a party to the conflict (in the Donbas). The Ukrainian authorities are not implementing the agreements signed in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, in order to settle the conflict, especially by refusing to grant the lands of the two "people's" republics a special legal status.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the war in Eastern Ukraine, presenting the conflict as a “civil war” while denying the role of Russian forces.

The aim of these messages is to present the situation in Eastern Ukraine as an internal conflict, ignoring irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in the region since February 2014, which has been well documented already for years, making it part of the conflict in Donbas, and is, consequently, bound by the Minsk agreements.

Disinfo: The US curators cannot calm hysterical Lithuania, afraid of false Russian threat

Lithuanian elites wage a diplomatic war against Russia. American curators try to calm hysterical Lithuanians, explaining that no one plans to attack them. Notwithstanding that NATO promised Mikhail Gorbachev not to expand to the East, Lithuania become a member of the Alliance in 2004. This fact has not calmed Lithuanian authorities. All 18 years after joining NATO, Lithuanian patriots shout: “Russians assault us”.

Disproof

This message combines various pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives presenting Lithuania as a puppet of the US and NATO and repeating a false statement that NATO promised not to expand to the East. The claim also presents Lithuanian concerns about the aggressive behaviour of Russia toward its neighbour countries presented as groundless, framing these as Russophobia.

Lithuanian worries about a possible “Russian threat” is linked to the aggressive behaviour of the Kremlin toward some of its neighbouring countries. In this context first of all should be mentioned the illegal annexation of Crimea and war in Ukraine supported by Russia.

Disinfo: The head of EU diplomacy exclusively serves Americans

Borrell is not needed: the head of EU diplomacy exclusively serves Americans. The head of the European External Action Service does not understand the strategic interests of Europe, which are currently most clearly and constructively formulated by the Franco-German tandem.

This raises the question not only about the personal fate of Borrell, who is clearly out of place, but also about the need for EEAS as such.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU and US presence in Europe, portraying Europe accusing the EU officials of being subordinate to the US and serving Washington’s interests instead of their own. Аn attempt to drive a wedge between member states and the EU leadership, part of a pro-Kremlin media campaign to discredit Josep Borrell.

Contrary to the claim about the EU’s submission to the US, the European Union is a sovereign entity, created by the voluntary initiative of European nations, and it has its own, independent foreign policy. Its citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament and Member States are represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU.