Disinfo: The US overthrew the Greek regime in 1967 when it wanted to shut down its military bases

Summary

The United States organised a coup in April 1967 to remove the democratically elected government of Greece – a NATO member. This is the Greek government that announced they would not prolong the agreement on US bases on Greek soil.

Disproof

This is a mix of several recurrent pro-Kremlin narratives, framing every protest movement in the world as a colour revolution promoted from the outside, very often the US as in this case, and aiming at regime change. While the US at the time did have concerns about the Centre Union-led government, research has concluded that "no official documents suggest that the US was involved in the imposition of a military coup in Greece." The Greek government did not make any official announcement that it would shut down US bases in the country. The comment was included in the article noting that the Ukrainian regime was overthrown in 2014 because it wanted to shut down the alleged laboratories of the Pentagon in the country.

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hu.news-front.info (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 203
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 13/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Hungarian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Greece, US
  • Keywords: Coup
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Disinfo: The global deep state turned Eastern Europe in a territory of plunder and devastation

Western Europe fell to its knees before the murdered George Floyd, but it continues to exploit its slaves from Eastern Europe in a brutal way. The global capital, the deep state destroys everything in its path. It needs the territory inhabited by thoughtless creatures without history and remembrance, which will serve and become slaves. The global deep state has destroyed the countries of Eastern Europe, turning them in the territory destined for plunder and devastation.

Jun 12, 2020
Disproof

Conspiracy theory. Deep state is a popular conspiracy theory, which promotes the narrative about a global elite secretly ruling the world. In most cases, the “deep state” is referred to as American elites, which promote aggressive wars and prevent US reconciliation with Russia. The idea of a "deep state" has always been very popular among conspiracy theorists. Its manifestations might be different, but generally, the concept conjures up the image of a small group of men, deciding the fate of the world behind the scenes. The statement that Eastern Europe has been turned into a “territory of devastation” is not supported by economic data. After the collapse of the Communist Block, most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe have faced impressive economic growth, becoming one of the most dynamic parts of Europe. Read similar examples of this narrative alleging that “deep state” fights with Trump, American “deep state” strikes, NATO is a part of it, US President will be assassinated if he confronts the deep state.

Disinfo: George Soros denies funding the US riots but evidence proves it

George Soros denied funding the US riots, but evidence refuted him. Rudolf Giuliani, Donald Trump’s private lawyer, openly accused the mega-speculator of funding the terrorist riots in the US promoted by Antifa and Black Lives Matter. It is significant that, unusually, both the spokesperson for Soros’ Open Society Foundations Michael Vachon and Soros himself came out to deny it. However, internet sites showed mysterious piles of bricks found in the main cities where protests are taking place, along with a compromising video. Black Lives Matter receives more than one-third of its funding from George Soros. And in The New York Times, a newspaper close to both Soros and the Clintons, commentator Farhad Manjoo is exultant that “Black Lives Matter is winning”.

Jun 12, 2020
Disproof

Despite what is claimed in the headline, no evidence is provided to support the affirmation that billionaire George Soros is funding the US protests. The article is repeating a baseless conspiracy theory promoted by some US conservative commentators, in line with recurrent pro-Kremlin narratives framing US protests as a staged ‘colour revolution’ and portraying Soros as an evil master behind almost every protest around the world. Unfounded claims against Soros exploded alongside US protests for racial justice after the death of African American George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in May 2020, mostly accusing him of funding Antifa and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. In this case, the affirmation that one-third of the BLM budget comes from the Open Society Foundation seems to be derived from an article in the The Washington Times, which explained that several US foundations created a fund aiming to raise 100 million dollars in six years for the Movement for Black Lives coalition. The article added, without providing any source, that the Open Society Foundations gave 33 million dollars in grants to the Black Lives Matter. This last claim was later repeated in several right-wing outlets, but it has been debunked by PolitiFact and The Daily Beast. The affirmation that bricks were strategically placed in protesting spots has been widely debunked by Factcheck.org, PolitiFact and Snopes, among other sites. The alleged video mentioned in the article does not prove that people are being paid to protest (despite the claim of the person who tweeted it, who, in any case, did not mention Soros). The New York Times is an independent newspaper with no links to either George Soros or the Clinton family. You can see many other examples of disinformation about George Soros in our database, such as his alleged promotion of protests in Mexico, Catalonia, Romania, Russia, Armenia or the Czech Republic (among many other places), his destabilising manoeuvres all over the world, his sponsorship of the film “Joker” as a tutorial for future ‘colour revolutions’, his attempts to destabilise Europe (mainly through the promotion of massive immigration) or his adoption of the term “conspiracy theory” to discredit those who speak the truth.

Disinfo: Washington uses the topic of fighting corruption as an instrument to control Ukraine

The United States is helping Ukraine, which is at war with its people. Residents of Donbas do not want to live under the rule of Kyiv, they do not agree with the results of the coup, so they tried to defend constitutional order in the country. The fact that the United States is allocating funds to Ukraine demonstrates the fact of intervention in this conflict, as well as support for actions that violate the law and international law. Such assistance will be used by the Kyiv authorities in armed actions against the residents of Donbas. At the same time, Washington uses the topic of fighting corruption as a lever to pressure the Ukrainian authorities. Corruption is a very convenient reason that the United States uses in a controlled country if it needs to be put under pressure. Undoubtedly, the level of corruption in today’s Ukraine is outrageous. But in this case, Washington uses this pretext to put its people in key positions, strengthen its influence on the Ukrainian government from the outside and blur the notion of state sovereignty.

Jun 12, 2020
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives painting the war in Ukraine as something that was artificially orchestrated by the US as well as a recurring disinformation narrative questioning Ukrainian statehood. The war in eastern Ukraine is not a Western-driven civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. US aid to Ukraine is designed to help Ukraine fight corruption, not control the country. In the similar manner, the EU also provides continuous financial support for Ukraine, with strong conditionality on continued progress of reforms. Read more here. See previous disinformation claims alleging that Ukraine has become a neocolony of the West; US interests prevent Ukraine from ending the war in Donbas; the US is eager to get Crimea.