Disinfo: Sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels are pushing Italy to economic suicide

Summary

Sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels are pushing Italy to economic suicide.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation presenting Italy as the puppet of the US and of EU and about Western sanctions on Russia claiming that they have backfired.

European Union is a sovereign entity created by the voluntary initiative of European nations and it has its own, independent foreign policy, while the US has no say in its decisions.

See our article Key Narratives in Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Part 3: ‘Lost Sovereignty’.

Italy is a EU member country since 1958, Euro area member since 1999, Schengen area member since 1997. Italy, which is represented European Parliament by 73 members, plays a relevant role within EU institutions.

Economic sanctions, including sanctions on the energy sector, were implemented by European Union as a reaction to the unjustified actions of Russia. The first sanctions were imposed in 2014 after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea. The European Union is implementing sanctions on Russia on its own initiative but also coordinates with partners, including the US. See more information about the EU’s sanctions on Russia. See also information on how the EU has been supporting Ukraine since the start of the war on 24 February 2022.

Most research supports the view that sanctions have worked as planned, noting the drag they have imposed on Russia’s general economic development since 2014. Russia’s own counter-sanctions have also had a clear negative effect on the welfare of the average Russian household.

A report written by the Chief Economist of Confindustria, the General Confederation of Italian Industry, published in Spring 2022, states that the direct impact of sanctions on Russia on the Italian economy is overall modest.

Read similar cases claiming that the EU lost more from sanctions than Russia and that the US is pushing Europe into the abyss.

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lantidiplomatico.it (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 308
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 07/09/2022
  • Article language(s) Italian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, Italy, EU, US
  • Keywords: Sanctions, Economic difficulties, economy, Sovereignty
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Disinfo: The West caused a global economic storm - energy crisis

A large global storm is coming as a result of the completely illogical and often absurd decisions of the US, Europe and the EU. The sanctions against Russia backfired, which led to high energy prices for the West and record inflation. Meanwhile, Russia has been maintaining macroeconomic stability.

Sep 06, 2022
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about sanctions in the context of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has long claimed that Western sanctions backfired. The claim was neither counterbalanced nor critically challenged in the article.

Russia has been using energy as a political and economic weapon several times against other states. Russia is no longer a stable and reliable supplier and while Europe is indeed facing an energy crisis with diversification to other sources, it is still set to grow this year according to the European Commission's summer 2022 forecast, while Russia's economy is set to contract by 6% in 2022.

Disinfo: Operating Nord Stream I would be dangerous

Using the failed turbine of Nord Stream I pipeline would be dangerous, it could cause an explosion or fire. Previously, other turbines had exhibited the same faults.

Sep 06, 2022
Disproof

The article transmits recurring disinformation narratives about the alleged technical issues that limit natural gas deliveries to the EU through the Nord Stream pipeline. This narrative plays into the Kremlin's claims that the West is collapsing.

Siemens noted that it did not believe such leakage is sufficient ground to stop the pipeline's operation, as "Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site."

Disinfo: Russia must purify Ukrainian language by eliminating totalitarian and terrorist influence

There is a classical, relatively speaking Ukrainian language, which is very close to the Russian language and which every Russian person understands, because it is just a variant of the Russian language. And there is the official modern Ukrainian language, which is the product of political technologists. Russian words are replaced by a large number of Polish and English words. And this artificial, totalitarian and terrorist modern Ukrainian language is now taught to schoolchildren.

Consequently, today the complete elimination of this "artificially created language" is strongly needed, because it originates from the terrorist methods of Ukrainian nationalists.

The modern Bandera language is an anti-Russian political language.

Sep 06, 2022
Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the Ukrainian language does not exist, with an injunction to “purify” it to make it sound like Russian.

Ukrainian is a real language and very different from Russian since centuries. It is more similar to other Slavic languages than Russian. In the last period of the USSR 1950s-1980s there was an effort to make the language disappear by progressively replacing words by Russian words. Russian was considered having an historical perspective in Soviet Union but not Ukrainian as Natalya Shevchenko explains: