DISINFO: The expansion of NATO to the East is military aggression
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: ru.armeniasputnik.am (archived)*
  • Date of publication: July 21, 2020
  • Outlet language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 206
  • Countries / regions discussed: EU, Russia
Tags:
Black Sea Military exercise EU/NATO enlargement NATO

DISINFO: The expansion of NATO to the East is military aggression

SUMMARY

The essence of the ongoing expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance to the east is a kind of military aggression. Sea Breeze 2020 NATO exercise in the Black Sea is powder keg games. NATO activities in the Black Sea and the Sea Breeze exercises are creating an explosive political-military situation, contributing to the militarisation of the Black Sea states and weakening regional security.

RESPONSE

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about aggressive NATO and encircled Russia. NATO enlargement means that NATO's door remains open to any European country in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. Central and Eastern European countries began seeking NATO membership in the early 1990s. NATO actively sought to create a cooperative environment that was conducive to enlargement while simultaneously building special relations with Russia. Furthermore, NATO does not "expand" in the aggressive sense as described by pro-Kremlin media. Rather, it considers the applications of candidate countries who want to join the alliance based on their own national will. As such, NATO enlargement is not directed against Russia. NATO's "Open Door Policy" is based on Article 10 of the Alliance's founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty (1949). Every sovereign nation has the right to choose its own security arrangements. This is a fundamental principle of European security and one to which Russia has also subscribed. Sea Breeze is constantly becoming the topic of disinformation narratives. Sea Breeze is an annually recurring multinational exercise, it does not aim, nor threaten, to invade any territory or to exert any pressure. Sea Breeze seeks to build combined capability and capacity to ensure maritime regional security and foster cooperative relationships among partnering nations. Read similar cases claiming that Sea Breeze exercises intend to create military-political pressure on Moscow, that "NATO's "Sea Breeze 2019" was a total failure thanks to Russia", and that "The United States is preparing Ukraine for a new provocation against Russia".

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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