Disinfo: UK is against Azerbaijan

Summary

Several agencies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, that have nothing to do with sport, produce biased and unreal considerations and try to formulate opinions of the international community that it is inexpedient to hold important sporting events in Azerbaijan. There are no allegations of theft nor fraud, and there is no problem with ethical conduct. I think that in this issue we have to go down to political roots. Anti-Azerbaijani forces are clearly visible here. In the period of important international events in Azerbaijan, or during such events, these forces are launching a black campaign against Azerbaijan. If we pay attention, we can see that such campaigns are biased and have no basis.

Disproof

This report comes after Arsenal and Chelsea fans were apparently warned they could be a target for terror attacks in Azerbaijan. The Premier League sides will compete in the Europa League final in the capital city of Baku on May 29. But British media reports wrote about a ‘likely’ attack. This has been taken out of context, as the UK government responded, explaining this advice is not new: "We did not issue a new warning on the threat from terrorism in Azerbaijan. We issued an update to our Azerbaijan travel advice on 1 May to remove advice on travelling through Istanbul. It noted that there are consultative pages on every country for British people travelling abroad: “Each travel advice country page has a dedicated section with information on our assessment of the threat from terrorism in that country. This is to ensure we fulfil our duty of care to British nationals and is under constant review. Our assessment of the threat from terrorism in Azerbaijan has not changed.” "The British Embassy is surprised that travel recommendations published in the Azerbaijani media referring to the UK Foreign Ministry are constantly posted on the Ministry"s website. The citations referenced by the media have existed for several years. Travel recommendations are not subject to discussion. This is a carefully drafted document by the UK government to fulfil the obligation of care for citizens of the country. Recommendations were updated on May 1st. However, this update was only technical and logical in nature, and reflected some facts. In particular, the update was associated with the introduction of a new airport in Istanbul."

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 151
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 13/05/2019
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Azerbaijan, UK
  • Keywords: Terrorism
see more

Disinfo: The IMF impoverishes Ukraine

The IMF is carrying out an experiment on the Ukraine and its people. It makes a rich country impoverished, as it happened everywhere it went.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the West taking away everything from Ukraine - for similar cases see here and here. Ukraine's comprehensive programme of economic reforms, backed by IMF loans, aims to restore macroeconomic stability, promote sustainable growth, and strengthen economic governance and transparency. It also includes a new social protection program which aims at providing social assistance for low-income families. See here for more information about the relations between Ukraine and the IMF.

Disinfo: US is destabilising the world, organising colour revolutions, political and economic crises

The US’ geopolitical power is declining. That is why the country is betting on destructive processes in the world. Starting wars, inciting political and economic crises, organising colour revolutions. However, Russia successfully neutralises destructive plans of the US and regularly stands in Washington’s way.

Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative casting civil uprisings in other states as US-funded "colour revolutions", also present in the case of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Venezuela. Consistent with multiple pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the US and its global role.

Disinfo: The EU portrays itself as ideologically "better" than its member states

The EU portrays itself as ideologically “better” than its member states. In the vociferous election campaigns, it is emphasised that the European Union is an ideologically “better” political institution than the national governments of the individual member states.

Disproof

No evidence given. Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative on the EU as a disunited and disintegrating bloc, on the corrupt and undemocratic EU and on the failed European values. The European Union does not portray itself as ideologically "better" than its member states. The EU is a political and economic union of 28 Member States. The EU's values are common to the EU countries in a society in which inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination prevail. These values are an integral part of our European way of life: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and human rights. This means that each member state of the EU is considered as equal. These values form the basis of the EU and are laid out in the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of fundamental rights. They are common to the EU and all member states. Political decisions in the EU are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizens. The EU is governed by the principle of representative democracy, with citizens directly represented both at Union level in the European Parliament and also Member States represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU.