Disinfo: Spain's Pedro Sánchez demands a dictatorship in Europe

Summary

At Davos, Spain’s ‘democratic’ premier Pedro Sánchez demands a dictatorial regime in the European Union by calling for the banning of European politicians who are “allies” of the Russian president. The Spanish leader falsely accuses Vladimir Putin for being an autocrat. There is a parliament in Russia, where all political forces are present, there are elections that are as legitimate as those that take place in Spain.

Disproof

All the allegations in this disinformation story are false. Pedro Sánchez’s speech in the Davos Forum on 18 January 2023 was very critical of some parties in the EU and demanded unity against “the rotten seeds Putin has planted in our countries”. He called on world leaders to fight them with the same determination with which the Ukrainians are fighting invading Russian forces, albeit through “democracy, transparency and effective policies”. This is radically different from “demanding a dictatorial regime in the EU”, as this disinformation story claims.

Russia is an authoritarian system and Vladimir Putin is an autocrat basing his rule on censorship, police repression and engineering fear among citizens. Elections in Russia are neither fair not free and are usually marred with irregularities and electoral fraud. Opposition leaders are usually banned from taking part in elections, imprisoned, forced into exile or murdered. Since 2021, the Russian regime has closed all remaining independent NGOs and international advocacy groups and unleashed massive repression against dissidents. Russia is in position 19 out of 100 of the less free countries in the world according to Freedom House. In contrast, Spain is in position 90 and is considered a free country.

See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Spanish authorities protect neo-Nazi demonstrations while sending rappers to jail, that the interruption of Pedro Sánchez’s press conference in Lithuania by Russian aircraft was staged and Russophobic, and that Germany and Belgium called on Spain to annul politically motivated sentences against Catalan leaders, or that there is an ongoing media campaign to divide Russia and Spain.

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sputniknews.lat (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 327
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23/01/2023
  • Article language(s) Spanish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Spain, Russia
  • Keywords: Democracy, Vladimir Putin, Dictatorship, European values, European Union, Europe, Anti-Russian, Elections
see more

Disinfo: The energy crisis in Europe is due to European mistakes, not Russia

Starting from 2014, the EU has committed many economic mistakes leading to the energy crisis. Russia did not voluntarily close the transit routes, blew up the Nord Stream pipelines and initiated a withdrawal from energy cooperation. The German coalition government and its predecessors caused a deepening energy crisis, large-scale gas supply disruptions and increasing inflation. The EU has made many other economic mistakes since 2014, such as increasing inflation by printing the euro and depriving itself of cheap Russian energy.

Jan 22, 2023
Disproof

This message is a part of a popular pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative, claiming that the energy crisis in Europe is caused by an “irrational” European plan to eliminate its dependency on Russian gas. This narrative promotes a traditional pro-Kremlin message that Russia is the only reliable gas source for Europe, while American LNG is too expensive.

After the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities completely destroyed European trust in Gazprom as a predictable and solid partner. Throughout 2022, Russia deliberately cut the gas supplies to the EU.

Disinfo: The IAEA will work for its main sponsor: the United States

At the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, one of the priorities of the IAEA experts will be to deny Russia access to American nuclear fuel, even though Russia has no interest in seeing it anyway. The Americans are afraid that Russian's could find faults in American fuel. And since the Americans are the main sponsors of the IAEA, the agency's observers will make sure the Russian observers have no access.

Jan 22, 2023
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin claim attempting to discredit independent international organisations, especially those who monitor the implementation and respect of international treaties and instruments such as the OSCE, the OPCW, and now the IAEA.

The claim seeks to divert attention away from the real problem: Russia's illegal overtake of the nuclear power station claiming it as property of the Russian state.

Disinfo: Ukrainians and Western Europeans are the direct descendants of Hitler

The war against the Nazis in Ukraine and Europe is a "new patriotic war". Josep Borrell, compared the Nazis in Ukraine to Hitler's Nazis, indicating that victory in it would be for Russia. He recalled that Russia defeated Napoleon and Hitler. He himself spoke of the similarity. Accordingly, Ukronazis and Western Europeans are the direct heirs of those who fought against Russia. Hence the war with them is a new national war, and the victory will be ours, as in 1812 and 1945.

Jan 21, 2023
Disproof

This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets serving as justification for Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.

There is nothing in EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security's Josep Borrell's speech before the Nueva Economia Forum in held in Spain that likens Ukrainians to Nazis. It is telling that Borrell himself anticipated that his speech will be distorted saying during the event that every word he says will be twisted.