Disinfo: The high school media literacy course in Moldova aims to remove all Russian information from the information space of the country

Summary

The problem is that there are too many similar initiatives in our country that […] have only one goal: to suppress all the information coming from Russia from the information field and replace it with their own, to make people consume only one information product and build their understanding of the world only in accordance with it.

Disproof

Recurring disinformation narratives claiming that in many states, including countries of the former Soviet Union, Russian media are restricted and discriminated against, which is a violation of freedom of speech, and that every initiative to promote media pluralism or media literacy is directed against Russian media. Similar cases can be seen here. The curriculum for Media Education (optional subject for upper secondary education, grades X-XI), approved by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of Moldova on 20 August 2019, was developed by the Independent Center of Journalism with the support of Internews. This school subject exists in many European countries, such as Germany, Sweden, France etc., according to EACEA (Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of EU). The media education course referred to aims to teach students about the role and power of the media in a democratic society, to ”decode” media messages, to analyse media content critically, to be aware of the dangers online by adopting responsible behavior and to become responsible media creators, as is mentioned in the Curriculum for VII-VIII degree, adopted in 2018 by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research of the Republic of Moldova. The media literacy course as an optional subject has been taught in the Republic of Moldova since 2017 (primary and lower secondary school).

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Bloknot Moldova (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 165
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 29/08/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Moldova, Russia
  • Keywords: Freedom of speech, Russophobia
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Disinfo: NATO is laying the foundations for Greater Albania by turning Montenegro into its military base 

NATO intends to turn the entire country of Montenegro into its military base by “occupying” locations like Sinjajevina, Andrijevica, Berane and the border of Montenegro. The Municipality of Andrijevica has been deliberately chosen as a location for new NATO military barracks because of its proximity to the Albanian border. That is also the case with the old airport in Berane, which NATO plans to turn into its military base. The citizens of Montenegro need to resist this occupation and militarisation of the country.

Aug 28, 2019
Disproof

The video clip and accompanying text are a combination of two recurring disinformation narratives: that NATO is building military bases in Montenegro, which is therefore being “occupied by NATO”; and the narrative about “Greater Albania”, a new state which would supposedly consist of Albania, Kosovo and parts of Montenegro and North Macedonia. NATO has no plans to build a military base in Montenegro, nor has the country's government announced any such plan. Moreover, a source from Montenegro’s Ministry of Defence has recently described the persistent claims about NATO bases as “refuted so many times in the past 10 years, that it’s pointless to even discuss it anymore”. Pro-Kremlin sources in the region tend to attach this claim to any news about building or reconstruction of military objects in Montenegro, especially since the country joined NATO in 2017. This was the case here as well: the military barracks to be built in Andrijevica are not a NATO military base or barracks. In November 2018, the Government of Montenegro passed the Strategic Defence Review of Montenegro, which lists the new barracks in Andrijevica as one of its military infrastructure priorities (document available here). This will be the barracks of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, built in accordance with NATO standards. There is no viable information that Berane is considered for a future military airport, let alone a NATO base, despite the rumours which circulated in similar sources two years ago. The Strategic Defence Review of Montenegro does not mention any plans for military objects in Berane. The claim that such a base will be built in Sinjajevina is also false (see a debunking of that claim by a Montenegrian fact-checker here). Finally, no evidence (or even a reasonable explanation) was given in the article to support the claim that building new military objects in Montenegro was a step towards creating “Greater Albania”.

Disinfo: There was a nationalist coup d'état in February 2014 in Kyiv

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine has been going on since Spring 2014. The inhabitants of the region had refused to acknowledge the nationalist coup d’état of February in Kyiv and announced the establishment of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Aug 28, 2019
Disproof

There was no coup d’état in Kyiv in 2014. This is a longstanding pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's Euromaidan protests. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was a reaction by several segments of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk here.

Disinfo: Vassal Eastern EU countries obey US in order to counter Western Europe

Brussels has provoked the collapse of industry in the Eastern Europe; the result is unemployment, impoverishment of the population and its mass exodus to more prosperous countries of Western Europe. Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania suffer the most under Brussels’ pressure. The shattering of the unipolar world in recent years has led to an exacerbation of the contradictions between Europe and the United States. Transatlantic unity is breaking up. Although the pretended reason of obeying NATO and US’ policy is countering the “Russian threat”, in reality Romania, the Baltic states, and Poland are using the US to counter Western Europe.

Aug 28, 2019
Disproof

This message is a conspiracy theory, consistent with recurring pro-Kremlin narratives about the "Evil West". There is no proof that the Eastern EU countries would act against Brussels or the Western countries. Consequently, there is no proof that the unemployment levels are part of the "Brussels' plan". According to Eurostat, unemployment level for the whole EU is low (6.3%); Poland has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. Unemployment rates for Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia are below EU average, while in Latvia and Lithuania there are slightly above it.