Disinfo: The European Union is obliged to participate in US wars

Summary

Washington castrated the European Union at its birth by imposing a clause to be inserted in the Treaty of Maastricht – the “suzerainty” of NATO. The EU has a vassal status in relation to the United States. We should remember the total support offered by the European Union to all of the Pentagon’s adventures, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen. In all these cases, without exception, the EU marched along its suzerain, NATO. The European Union, which was imagined at a time when the world was divided into two irreconcilable blocs, is today completely unadapted. If they want to avoid being dragged by the United States into conflicts which are not their own, its members will have to free themselves from the European treaties and the integrated command of NATO.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the United States, dictating EU and member state policies. Similar examples can be found here and here.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 147
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 25/04/2019
  • Outlet language(s) English
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: US
  • Keywords: Military, European Union, Sovereignty, NATO
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Disinfo: Sweden turns resort island into a military shooting range, scaring away the tourists

Sweden has decided that the Island of Gotland has a strategic function in a war with Russia – who has no plans on going to war. Now the roaring from cannons never quiet over the idyllic province and the Swedish military are scaring away the tourists. The people of Gotland are disappointed with the return of the noisy military units.

Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation on Western military, encircling Russia. Similar cases here and here. Unfounded claims on discontent on Gotland with the military presence on the island and on the military impeding tourism. Sweden established a military unit on the island of Gotland in 2018, consisting of a few hundred conscripts.

Disinfo: The EU Parliament is a place of corruption, voting in the elections is worthless

Elections are a tool used to hide mistrust of political authorities and confidence in their own strength. Parliaments are corrupt, be it through the contributions by lobbyists or through the misguided belief that one can actually make a difference by voting in parliamentary elections. This self-deception is the cheapest corruption.Elections to the European Parliament have been held since 1979. The Parliament’s chief purpose has always been the stabilization of financial rule, the best example of which is the Euro-coup. If you cast a vote in the EU Parliament elections, you will never get it again.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative questioning the EU institutions' legitimacy and powers and seeking to discourage voter turnout in elections.

The European Parliament is the EU's only directly-elected institution. Since 1979, it has been elected by EU voters every 5 years. The last elections were in May 2014, and the next ones are in May 2019. The European Parliament is one of the EU's two law-making bodies. It has constitutional-type and ratification powers. It passes EU laws, together with the Council of the EU, based on European Commission proposals. It has budgetary powers, scrutiny over the executive, hears citizens’ petitions, and appoints the European Ombudsman. A detailed overview of the European Parliament’s role in the European decision-making process can be consulted here.

Disinfo: Foreign media filmed a staged scene of another false chemical attack in Syria

Correspondents and workers of foreign media filmed a staged scene in which a family died after an alleged “chemical attack” of Syrian troops in the village of Morek, in the province of Hama, according to chief of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation in Syria.

Disproof

No evidence is provided to support the claim. Accusations of staged scenes and filming of allegedly false chemical attacks in Syria are a recurring narrative in Russian propaganda. See other examples here, here and here.