Disinfo: The EU anti-Russian sanctions kill the economic sovereignty of Europe

Summary

The EU remains captive to its arrogant perception of Russia – Europe was wrong in all its predictions about [catastrophic] consequences of the “suffocating” sanctions. Each next “package” of the EU anti-Russian sanctions clearly shows that this tool does not work.

The sanctions primarily kill the economic sovereignty of the European Union. The EU can impose as many restrictions on trade with Russia as it wants, but this will only increase its dependence on direct competitors.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation about sanctions on Russia, and on EU disintegration.

The EU adopted so far ten sanction packages against Russia due to its illegal aggression and occupation of Ukrainian territories.

According to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2022 was a bad year for the Russian economy. It is estimated that in 2022, Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by at least 2.2% in the best-case scenario and by up to 3.9% in the worst-case scenario.

Russia’s economy may continue to shrink in 2023. Its GDP is forecast to decline by 5.6% in the worst-case scenario (OECD) or by 3.3% according to the World Bank. The IMF expects slight growth in 2023 (0.3%).

Figures are proving that the restrictive measures are yielding results. Both the World Bank and the IMF estimated that in 2022, Russia’s trade in goods and services was set to decline significantly. In 2023, exports will continue to decline, while imports are expected to be higher than in 2022.

An analysis of the impact of those sanctions on the Russian economy is available here.

See also the assessment of EU HRVP Josep Borrell: sanction policy is working and strongly impacts the Russian economy.

Claims about the EU losing its economic sovereignty are often employed by pro-Kremlin outlets, often in the same sentence as claims about puppet states and foreign masters.

in the case of energy, for example, the EU took steps “to secure the EU’s energy supplies, such as a gas storage regulation, a gas demand reduction regulation, the creation of an EU energy platform and outreach initiatives for the diversification of supply sources.”

The Autumn 2022 Eurobarometer survey shows that three-quarters of EU citizens approve of the EU’s overall support of Ukraine as well as the specific measures including sanctions against Russia. Democracy, human rights, and free speech are paramount to EU citizens as they call on the European Parliament to defend these values on which the EU is founded.

Read here about the EU and the US sanctions explained.

See other similar examples of disinformation: US is destroying industry in Europe by forcing Brussels to sanction Russia; Western sanctions on Russian energy jeopardize the global economy; Sanctions that were supposed to destroy Russia may disintegrate the EU.

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pl.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 330
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28/02/2023
  • Article language(s) Polish
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, EU
  • Keywords: Maria Zakharova, Sanctions, Anti-Russian, Economic difficulties, Sovereignty
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Disinfo: The US wants to silence the situation about the Nord Stream investigation

After the publication of an article by US journalist Seymour Hersh highlighting that the US remotely detonated the explosives that blew the Nord Stream pipelines under president Biden’s orders, the US try to downplay the situation and defend their stance that Russian special services are involved in the sabotage, while not allowing Russia to take part in the investigation. The US Administration try to silence the situation.

Feb 27, 2023
Disproof

This is part of a wider pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign aiming to amplify and exploit Seymour Hersh’s controversial article accusing the US of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. The article can’t be considered an evidence of this: it is based on a single, unidentified anonymous source and published in Hersh’s personal blog, so no editorial team was involved in its preparation.

Some of its affirmations have been credibly debunked by journalists, experts and OSINT researchers, such as claims about NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cooperating with the US since the Vietnam War (who was 15 at the time this war ended), the use of the M350 Alta ship (which had been out of use since 2012 and sent to the scrapyard in 2022), or that a P-8 aircraft of the Norwegian Navy was involved to detonate the explosives (none of Norway’s P-8 was remotely closer to the area of the explosions).

Disinfo: Romania is concentrating air defense systems to Moldova’s border

Romania pulls air defense systems to the border with Moldova. A video has been published on the Web that show that Romania is pulling together air defense systems near the border with Moldova.

Feb 27, 2023
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinfo narrative suggesting that Moldova is preparing for war against Russia, being instigated by Washington and NATO via Romania, a NATO member. The claim is based on a video spread via Telegram presenting military technical units circulating on the streets of an unnamed city.

The Romanian Ministry of Defense denied the information. In a statement published on its web page, the Ministry said this is an old video, from November 2022, recorded in Alba Iulia city, when Romanian militaries prepared to celebrate National Day – 1 December. „Falsely, with the obvious aim of inducing panic, the video material is presented, on February 27, 2023, as "the move of Romanian air defense systems to the border with the Republic of Moldova, this morning", the Ministry said.

Disinfo: The weapons sent to Ukraine end up in the hands of criminal groups in Sweden

The weapons sent to Ukraine end up in the hands of criminal groups in Sweden. Weapons smugglers from Gothenburg receive offers to buy weapons coming to Ukraine to be sold afterwards to gangs in the Nordic country, according to information in Swedish media.

Feb 27, 2023
Disproof

The claim is a disingenuous manipulation to promote a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative against supporting Ukraine. Although there is preliminary evidence showing that some small arms provided by Western countries may have been diverted by traffickers to criminal gangs in certain countries in northern Europe, this story deliberately distorts these cases, portraying them as much more widespread and dangerous than they actually are.

In October 2022, a top official at Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, Detective Superintendent Christer Ahlgren, told the Finnish public broadcaster Yle that his office had received preliminary information that criminals in Finland might have captured military arms, such as assault rifles, meant for Ukrainian forces, and that weapons shipped to Ukraine had “also been found in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands”. Similar comments were made by the weapons smuggling expert at the Swedish Customs Office Jesper Liedholm to Sverige Radio in February 2023.