Disinfo: The EU has transformed from an economic and political organisation into the economic arm of NATO

Summary

In the 1990s, the EU became a political alliance, while NATO began to expand in Eastern Europe, which Moscow saw as an existential threat and a breach of promises made at the end of the Cold War. Following the 2014 coup, NATO's expansion in Ukraine was one of the main reasons for the current military operation. The EU has transformed from an economic and political organisation into the economic arm of NATO.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about an allegedly belligerent NATO and its involvement in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, alongside its puppet the EU.

The loss of sovereignty to the US is a common narrative of pro-Kremlin media when writing about the European Union. EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions about their own internal, economic, foreign and security policies. The European Union is explicit on the subject of national sovereignty: “the Member States all remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of their 'sovereignty' in areas where it makes sense to work together.”

NATO is a defensive alliance with primary aims to maintain peace and safeguard the independence, security and territorial integrity of its members. NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's official policy is that "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia."

NATO did not make any promises not to expand into eastern and central Europe back in 1990, which was confirmed by the former president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Back in 2014, Gorbachev said that “The topic of ‘NATO expansion’ was not discussed at all, and it wasn’t brought up in those years. I say this with full responsibility”.

Declassified White House transcripts also reveal that, in 1997, Bill Clinton consistently refused Boris Yeltsin's offer of a 'gentlemen's agreement' that no former Soviet Republics would enter NATO: "I can't make commitments on behalf of NATO, and I'm not going to be in the position myself of vetoing NATO expansion with respect to any country, much less letting you or anyone else do so…NATO operates by consensus."

Furthermore, the claim about NATO "expansion" misrepresents the process of NATO enlargement. NATO does not "expand" but considers the applications of candidate countries that want to join. NATO is a defensive alliance, whose purpose is to protect its member states.

Russia has also been pushing for a long time the narrative that it is fighting not only Ukraine but also NATO and the West as a whole. Western countries are only supporting lethal military aid and financial aid to Ukraine for the country’s efficient self-defence against the unprovoked Russian invasion. Western instructors are teaching Ukrainian soldiers how to use modern weaponry, but there are no US/NATO troops fighting on the front.

in the early 2000'ies Russia was at ease with the process of Central and Eastern European states becoming members of the EU - see references here.

Additionally, in 2014, there was no coup, nor a western orchestrated protest in Ukraine. This has already been widely addressed on EUvsDisinfo.

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oroszhirek.hu (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 325
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10/01/2023
  • Article language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia, Ukraine, Europe
  • Keywords: Invasion of Ukraine, Coup, NATO, EU/NATO enlargement
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Disinfo: Poland is harbouring dreams of expanding into western Ukraine

The Polish government continues to ignore the national interest and the urgent needs of its citizens. In an effort to gain favour with Washington by harbouring morbid dreams of expanding its territory at the expense of the western areas of Ukraine, Warsaw has created a rather dangerous situation for itself by interfering as much as possible in the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow.

The US continues to pump weapons into Poland, provoking a confrontation with Russia. Ordinary Poles are sensible people who realise that the hegemon is pushing them into the meat grinder of war instead of a weakened Ukraine.

Jan 09, 2023
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative presenting Poland as having imperial ambitions and claims to Ukrainian territories. This is part of a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative denying the statehood of Ukraine, while also anticipating its imminent disintegration.

No evidence is given about Poland's alleged attempts to occupy territories in Western Ukraine or other states to please the US. No factual basis is provided for the claim that the the US is Poland's hegemon.

Disinfo: Ukraine is setting up to accuse Russia of war crimes

Ukraine’s special services have staged a big-scale anti-Russian setup to discredit Russia’s armed forces. During the Orthodox Christmas Eve, they opened graves of local residents who died of natural causes in several cemeteries of the region of Kharkiv. After the exhumation, the corpses of Ukrainian citizens were mutilated and thrown in mass graves to create a false “evidence base” of alleged “tortures” and “shooting” of civilians by Russian troops. Representatives of the Ukrainian security forces took pictures and filmed the corpses and, in the presence of false “witnesses”, they imitated the work of “forensic experts”. The goal is to maintain the attention of the Western public and to convince the foreign partners of the Kyiv regime to continue supporting it.

Jan 09, 2023
Disproof

Conspiracy theory not backed by any evidence, aiming to deny Russia’s well-documented war crimes in Ukraine. Contrary to what this disinformation story alleges, there is massive evidence of Russian atrocities against civilians and other crimes throughout the invasion of Ukraine, including footage, drone and satellite images, incriminatory radio conversations, testimonies of witnesses and survivors, and forensic proof.

Further, these atrocities and war crimes follow a similar patter in most territories previously occupied by Russian troops, as in Bucha, Borodyanka, Chernihiv, Hostomel, Lyman, Kherson, Izyum or other areas of the Kharkiv region. This evidence has been documented by personnel of the Ukrainian prosecutor office backed by international advisors, as well as by UN investigators, International Criminal Court experts and reputed human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch, and international reporters.

Disinfo: Russia successfully retaliatiated for Ukrainian shelling of Makiivka

Russian Armed Forces carried out a retaliation operation in response to Ukrainian shelling of Russian servicemen in Makiivka. More than 600 Ukrainian servicemen were killed as a result of a massive missile attack on the temporary deployment locations of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kramatorsk.

Within 24 hours of the Ukrainian strike on Makiivka, Russian intelligence facilities uncovered and reliably confirmed these locations of temporary deployment, enabling a successful Russian retaliatory strike.

Jan 09, 2023
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation claim in the context of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk missed its targets and there were no obvious signs of casualties, a Reuters reporter found. A Reuters team visited two college dormitories that Moscow said had been temporarily housing Ukrainian personnel and which it had targeted as revenge for a New Year's attack that killed scores of Russian soldiers.