Disinfo: The Munich Agreement triggered WWII and the USSR was completely ignored

Summary

The Munich Agreement triggered WWII and the USSR was completely ignored. 81 years ago, the Wehrmacht invaded Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia as a result of the Munich Agreement signed the previous evening. If the reasons for the Second World War are to be commemorated in the EU today, it would be better to delete the reference to it, as in the controversial resolution of the EU Parliament – unlike the Hitler-Stalin Pact. Such a policy had unfortunately been pursued so far and threatened to trigger the fourth great war, despite the written offers of the Soviet Union to France and Czechoslovakia. The Soviet proposals were practically ignored. They had been accepted indifferently, if not contemptuously […] The events took place as if there had been no Soviet Russia. Then we had to pay dearly for it.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about WWII. The Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938), indeed, permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland, in western Czechoslovakia. The policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler was heavily criticised in Europe and proved to be a disastrous move. World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany on 3 September. Before Germany attacked Poland, Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (23 August 1939). The deal was accompanied by a secret supplementary protocol on the delimitation of areas of mutual interest in Eastern Europe. In particular, Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland. The agreement also indicated that the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as Bessarabia and Finland, belonged to the respective areas of interest of Germany and the USSR. The Soviet Union attacked Poland on September 17, forcing the Polish army to fight on two fronts. Poland was divided according to the agreements of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The USSR later attacked Finland and annexed the Baltic states, all along the agreements with Nazi Germany. For more similar cases see here, here and here.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 167
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 01/10/2019
  • Outlet language(s) German
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: USSR, UK, France, Germany
  • Keywords: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Historical revisionism, European Union, WWII, Nazi/Fascist
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Disinfo: Baltic states followed Greta Thunberg's agenda, it resulted in complete degradation and dying

Greta Thunberg proposed the UN General Assembly to deny the achievements of human civilisation, neglect economic development and material well-being for the sake of saving nature. This “positive agenda” is not new, it was made a reality in the Baltic states after the USSR collapsed. They fought the so-called “legacy of occupation” using ecological slogans. This all resulted in the complete degradation of the Baltic states. The Western liberal ruling elite promotes the programme of the future through Greta. This programme is extremely regressive as it denies human creative powers, science and progress and proposes the past to the world. The Baltic states made this programme of deliberate simplification, degradation, and archaisation real. Under the mottoes for saving nature, they run through the Bacchanalia of de-industrialisation and de-intellectualisation. The Baltic States can take some credit for the ecological situation though. The remaining small population only happens to be bothered by beavers and wild boars walking in downtown Riga. Hence, the path proposed by Greta Thunberg leads to the dying-out as the case of the Baltic states proves.

Disproof

This disinformation message combines conspiracy theories, ungrounded generalisations and simplifications, and is aimed to downsize the pressing problem of climate change, discredit both the ecological agenda and the Baltic states. It follows recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about extreme socio-economic difficulties in the Baltic states and Greta Thunberg as a mouthpiece of powerful political forces with hidden agenda. See earlier disinformation cases alleging that the Baltic states are dying because they chose not to be with Russia and that Lithuania will be depopulated in 20 years, that decaying Latvia and Lithuania envy Belarus its strategic relations with Russia and that Greta Thunberg is a political tool, whose key targets for “green blows” will be Russia and China.

Disinfo: Robert Mueller’s investigation proved there was no collusion between Trump and Russia

It cannot be excluded that scandal around the phone call between the Presidents of the US and Ukraine is the consequence of the failure of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel investigation to prove Moscow intervened in the US elections.

Disproof

A recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the Robert Mueller report connected also with the recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. Robert Mueller's investigation did conclude that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Mueller's report determined that there were "two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election". It led to US senators' proposals to extend sanctions on Russia to deter it from further election meddling. The claim that the report provides no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion is spurious. Gathering evidence of "collusion" - which is not a legal concept - fell outside the scope of the investigation. The aim of the probe was not merely to ascertain contacts between the Trump Campaign and Russia-linked individuals during the election period, but to establish whether these interactions were deliberate enough on the part of Trump Campaign officials to sustain charges of conspiracy (p. 2). The report explicitly identifies "numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign" (p. 9).

Disinfo: Ukraine is going to restore passenger links with Crimea

The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy said in an interview with Radio Liberty that Kyiv decided to restore passenger transport links with the Crimea.

Disproof

A deliberate misinterpretation of a statement by a Ukrainian official, recurrent with a popular pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the "international recognition of the Russian status" of the occupied Ukrainian peninsula. In an interview for Radio Liberty, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krikliy answered the question whether there will be legal passenger transportation to and from the administrative border with Crimea, as well as a bus station near the control point. The resumption of passenger transport links with Crimea was not discussed. Later, Minister Krikliy moved to correct the false news, saying that “Ukrainian carriers will carry passengers through Ukraine, exclusively in Ukraine. It’s not about the resumption of any transport links to and from the occupied Crimea.”