Disinfo: Poland seeks to be the main US outpost in its aggressive policy towards Russia

Summary

Poland has difficult relations with the EU countries. For Poland, it is important to have approval primarily from the United States. It is no coincidence that military cooperation between Poland and the United States intensified. Poland seeks to take the position that West Germany took in Europe during the Cold War: the position of the main US outpost in its aggressive policy towards Russia.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on “lost sovereignty”, Russophobia, as well as a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative that the United States fully controls the foreign policy of Poland.

Poland is often presented by pro-Kremlin outlets as a “puppet-state” of the United States. This narrative includes a message that the United States manipulates Poland and other European allies in order to carry out its anti-Russian policies. The statement that Poland is used by the United States to inspire a conflict with Russia is a conspiracy theory. Poland is a sovereign state, which shapes its own foreign and domestic policies.

Read similar cases alleging that Polish policy towards Ukraine is shaped by the Americans and that the US keeps Poland on an anti-Russian leash, Poland is losing its independence, Poland’s Eastern policy is dictated by the USA aiming to weaken Russia, The US uses Poland as a potential fuse and stimulator of a conflict with Russia.

More about Russian propaganda attacks on Poland can be read here.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 184
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 05/02/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Poland, US, Russia
  • Keywords: Anti-Russian, US presence in Europe, Russophobia
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Disinfo: There is a total censorship in Swedish media

[Swedish] media connect the recent outbreaks of crime with clashes between criminal gangs, but never write a single word about the migrants, who are to blame for Sweden’s descent into chaos. The total censorship of Swedish media stops the citizens of the country from expressing their views in the press.

Disproof

Swedish media are not censored. Any issue, including migration, is addressed in the press. Sweden has the world's oldest legislation on the freedom of the speech. Crime is, as in any country, an issue dealt with by the judiciary, and the root causes of crime is very much discussed in Swedish media. Official Swedish statistics show that the crime rate in Sweden is relatively low and at a stable level.

Sweden is regularly targeted by pro-Kremlin disinformation efforts, displaying a narrative on the country "descending into chaos", due to migration and "perversions".

Disinfo: US is behind the spread of coronavirus

The United States is behind the spread of the new coronavirus worldwide. The new virus is spreading at a tremendous speed, from one continent to another. Is it really a new type of influenza? No, it is about an artificial crisis behind which stand economically motivated United States, because Americans fear that they are failing to compete with the Chinese or even catch up with them.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory and a recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the China coronavirus. The statement has no evidence.

According to various sources, several dozen strains of the coronavirus have been recorded in the world, seven of which present varying degrees of danger to humans. First and foremost, these types of viruses bring on respiratory disease. Viruses are dangerous because they can be transmitted by humans and animals and because they mutate so quickly.

Disinfo: The US stands behind the pressure upon the Serbian church of Montenegro

The chaos in the inter-church relations in Montenegro benefits both the Patriarch of Constantinople and Washington. In late December 2019, Podgorica adopted officially a law on secularisation of church property. Churches built before 1918 are declared state property. That is the bulk of the churches of Montenegro. The US and the Patriarch of Constantinople is interest in the realisation of this law. The Americans are putting pressure upon the Serbian patriarchate, demanding that it denounces the support of the Moscow Patriarchy and recognise the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine, established in 2018.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory; no evidence given. This claim involves the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that the West threatens and undermines traditional Christian values. Related cases where the US is accused of attacking traditional values in Europe via "sects" can be found here, here, and here.