DISINFO: The location of the NATO military base in Romania aims to discourage Russia
SUMMARY
In fact, has anyone ever asked Romanians if they agreed for Romania to become a NATO military base? And beware – NOT any NATO base, but one to… discourage Russia!
RESPONSE
This is a recurring conspiracy narrative about NATO presence in Romania. The article develops pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the West encircling Russia and an imperialistic US presence in Europe. NATO is not a threat to Russia. NATO's official policy towards Russia was most recently articulated by the heads of state and government of the Alliance at the Warsaw Summit in July 2016. They stated that "the Alliance does not seek confrontation and poses no threat to Russia. But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which our Alliance and security in Europe and North America rest". NATO is not encircling Russia. See similar pro-Kremlin disinformation cases alleging that NATO is fully subordinated to the USA and Baltic states, Moldova and Poland are NATO “hostages”, that NATO is serving one master – the US, and that the US needs NATO to keep the Europeans under tight control.