Disinfo: Soros sees big opportunities after COVID-19 ‘puts our civilisation at risk’

Summary

Billionaire speculator George Soros sees big opportunities after Covid-19 ‘puts our civilisation at risk’. He labelled the pandemic as the crisis of his lifetime, having the chance of remaking society amid the “revolutionary moment” that, according to him, preceded the virus. While he didn’t elaborate, Soros has invested 1 billion dollars in the last months to set up a university network to fight “nationalism” and climate change, calling the initiative “the most important project of my life”. And he hinted that the political lives of Chinese president Xi Jinping and US president Donald Trump, which he called “dictator” and “aspiring dictator” respectively, were coming to an end. Soros’ Open Society Foundations played a key role in fomenting “colour revolutions” in societies that lack the kind of “openness” determined by Soros, adding a potential layer of threat to what on the surface sounded benign. Soros-funded groups have been working to remove Trump from power practically since his inauguration, and the billionaire sees dictators everywhere.

Disproof

This is a deliberate distortion of the interview billionaire Geore Soros gave to the outlet Project Syndicate, where he made clear that he saw the Covid-19 pandemic as a catastrophic event that “totally disrupted people’s lives and required very different behavior”, and where he made no mention to “big opportunities” or the chance of remaking society. The aim is to portray Soros as an evil and ever-destabilising figure with no morality, part of a Shadow Government ruling the world and promoting its own agenda. George Soros is a recurrent target of Russian disinformation, which frequently accuses him of being behind controversial issues. See the EUvsDisinfo article about the all-powerful Mr. Soros. Here you can find other examples of this disinformation narrative, such as Soros’ alleged promotion of massive migration to Western countries, his destabilising manoeuvres all over the world, his participation in ‘colour revolutions’ and protests in Romania, Russia, Armenia, Czech Republic or Mexico (among many others), his supposed links to the whistleblower who triggered the impeachment process against Donald Trump, or his adoption of the term “conspiracy theory” to discredit those who speak the truth.

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  • Reported in: Issue 197
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 12/05/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: China, US
  • Keywords: coronavirus, Donald Trump, Colour revolutions, George Soros
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Disinfo: NATO does not help member states to fight against coronavirus

Criticism of NATO is more and more heard in the West, because of insufficient assistance to member states of the military bloc, for example to Spain and Italy. Experts note the failure of the alliance in a pandemic. It turns out that NATO is fighting only with the far-fetched “Russian threat”. But when it comes to real danger, the bloc shows its inefficiency. Coronavirus has proven the futility of NATO.

May 11, 2020
Disproof

This is one of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the inability of NATO and the EU to assist their member states in fighting the coronavirus and about the alleged disintegration of the EU, NATO and other Western bodies. NATO has been doing a great deal to assist all member states in the fight against COVID-19. This includes facilitating the airlift of crucial medical supplies and equipment, matching requests for support with offers from allies and partners, setting up field hospitals. Many Allies, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain have benefited from this support. NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) has helped facilitate medical aid to Allies. Allied airlift capabilities have delivered hundreds of thousands of tons of medical equipment, and Allied armed forces are playing an essential role in the civilian response to COVID-19. For example, in response to Spain and Italy’s requests for assistance made through the EADRCC, the Czech Republic bilaterally provided both countries with medical supplies, including 10,000 protective medical suits each. Through the same mechanism, Turkey provided Italy and Spain with medical supplies such as masks, personal protection equipment and disinfectants. “NATO was created to deal with crises. So we can help and our Alliance is playing its part”, the NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said. The Alliance is already coordinating and supporting national efforts against the pandemic with logistical, transport and medical help. Read similar cases claiming that the coronavirus has proven the weakness of NATO, that in the present coronavirus crisis NATO has completely exhausted the reasons for its existence,that NATO did not help Spain fight coronavirus, that NATO members have been unable to deal collectively with the coronavirus pandemic. More about NATO response to the pandemic can be found here.

Disinfo: Leaked documents cast doubt on evidence in MH17 trial

The JIT’s evidence in the MH17 trial is mainly based on conversations intercepted by the Ukrainian Security Service, anonymous witness testimony, and Internet images found by the research collective Bellingcat. However, even this evidence is at odds with two documents leaked from the Dutch military intelligence body (MIVD) and published by Bonanza Media. These documents show that there were twelve BUK missile installations — nine Ukrainian and three Russian — in the wider area of the crash site. The closest installation in use was Ukrainian. This was 98 km away from the spot where MH17 was hit. The nearest operational Russian installation was located 106 km away, on the Russian side of the Russian-Ukrainian border. The MIVD concludes that none of these installations could have hit MH17, based on the locations where they were seen according to the information of MIVD. The BUK-M1 type has a range of up to 42 km.

May 11, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the MH17 investigation. The documents published by Bonanza do not prove Russian non-involvement in the crash. See detailed refutations of this claim here and here. As such, the results of the investigation of the Joint Investigation Team remain unchanged: flight MH17 was shot down by a missile from the 9M38 series, which was launched by the BUK TELAR system. The system was transported from the Russian Federation to an agricultural field near the city of Pervomaiskiy in eastern Ukraine, from where the rocket was launched. After firing, the system with one missing missile returned to the Russian Federation. On May 24 2018, JIT announced in its conclusion that the Buk belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, a unit of the Russian armed forces in Kursk, Russian Federation. The public hearing started on 9 March 2020 in the Netherlands.

Disinfo: Belarusian opposition tried to disrupt the Victory Day military parade with the help of US money

The Belarusian opposition tried hard to disrupt the Victory Day military parade but did not succeed. Opposition members strongly dissuaded people from attending the parade and even offered real green dollars from Uncle Sam and the US State Department’s money for this. As soon as the Victory Day parades stop in the post-Soviet space, Americans will buy the victory from our ancestors. The Belarusian opposition easily trades the historical victory with the West.

May 11, 2020
Disproof

These are unfounded claims intended to discredit the US / West and the Belarusian opposition through baseless accusations of bad intentions towards the Victory Day military parade. This story is consistent with pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the West's continuous attempts to undermine Belarusian society through a subservient Belarusian opposition and Western-funded NGOs. There is no proof that the US paid the Belarusian opposition to disrupt the parade or that the opposition paid people not to attend the public event. In late March 2020, an online petition was created asking Belarus' Ministries of Health and Defence to cancel the Victory Day military parade to mitigate the coronavirus epidemic and to finance hospitals instead. Over 7,000 citizens signed the petition by March 31. The Ministry of Defence's response read that the epidemiological situation allowed for the parade to go ahead. The WHO recommended that the Belarusian authorities cancel the parade and expressed concern about its organisation amid the epidemic. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the coronavirus epidemic prevented a NATO deadly attack against Belarus, that Belarusian opposition, civic activists and independent journalists make kill lists for Western security bodies, that the West finances the Belarusian opposition and NGOs to disrupt Belarus-Russia relations, and that it promotes propaganda of feminine men in Belarus.