Photo: collage from Spc. XaViera Masline, © European Union, 2024 and James R. Evans, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recently, several real (geo)political events served as inspiration for disinformation, both in our country and in the region. First, a fabricated release claims NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has threatened to kick the US out of NATO if Trump makes a deal with Putin and “sells” Ukraine. There is no evidence for such a statement. In addition, disinformation which claimed US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had threatened the BRICS not to expand westward was circulating. Again, there is no evidence of this. The White House says they “don’t see BRICS developing into a rival.” Finally, a post on X (formerly Twitter), claims that the Houthis have hit the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln.” Not only is the footage from another ship from 2020, but the “Abraham Lincoln” is currently successfully sailing on the South China Sea.  

Author: Matej Trojachanec 

In the past month, a few key events occurred on the global (geo)political stage. Donald Trump won the US elections, securing his second mandate. Russia concluded a defense agreement with North Korea, allowing North Korean troops to join the battlefield in the Kursk region. In response, President Joe Biden and other allies allowed Ukrainian military forces to use their missiles on Russian territory. In return, Russia used projectiles fired from an intercontinental missile.  

Kiev initially accused Moscow of firing an intercontinental ballistic missile in combat for the first time in history. However, Washington later clarified that it was not an intercontinental missile, but an “experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile,” colleagues from Deutsche Welle report.  

In the wake of this, numerous disinformation began to spread on Macedonian social networks, related to the US, Biden, Russia and Ukraine, BRICS, the European Parliament and so on. Still, despite the cacophony of domestic disinformation, recently, a few topics emerged in the region which were recycled in a few countries. 

Has Mark Rutte really threatened to kick the US out of NATO? 

The answer is no. After it was confirmed that Donald Trump won the US elections, disinformation began to spread claiming the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte has threatened to throw the US out of NATO. More specifically, that Rutte would take such measures if Trump “hands over” Ukraine to Russia in the negotiations with Vladimir Putin.  

This disinformation has been checked by colleagues from Reuters, Delfi, Deutsche Welle, Euronews, Ellinika Hoaxes, Fact Check Cyprus. In short, no credible source can be found on any media outlet regarding this statement by Mark Rutte. In a statement for Reuters, NATO confirmed “the narrative is not true.” Not only that, but recently, Trump and Rutte had an official meeting where they spoke about “numerous global safety issues the alliance is facing.”  

Furthermore, even though Article 13 of the NATO treaty allows for the withdrawal of member states, there is no provision for “expulsion.” Violations are resolved by limiting or suspending cooperation through joint decisions of the members.  

Did the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin threaten BRICS not to expand westward? 

The answer is no. The recent BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, inspired a heap of content comprised of news, propaganda, and disinformation. Regardless of the actual outcome of the summit and whether any major changes will be made, the position of the White House even before it began was that they “do not see BRICS turning into a geopolitical rival,” but this did not prevent various speculations from spreading.  

To clarify, this disinformation emerged from X (former Twitter). In the post, there is a picture of the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and it says: “We demand written guarantees that BRICS will not expand to the West.” This disinformation was further shared across various social networks, as well as via well-known Russian disinformation sites. This “news” was checked by colleagues from Factcheck.bg, Raskrinkavanje and Delfi. Furthermore, such a statement cannot be found anywhere on the website of the US Department of Defense, nor in other official announcements by Austin.  

Was the US aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln” hit by the Houthis? 

The answer is once again, no. Due to the increased tensions in the Middle East, particularly the attacks by the Houthis from Yemen on ships traveling through the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the US and its allies launched the special naval operation “Prosperity Guardian.” The goal was to protect all transport ships from Houthi attacks by positioning part of their navy in the Red Sea, including the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln.” 

The disinformation was first shared on X, with a video portraying a warship being visibly damaged, with smoke coming out of it. The warship shown is, in fact, the ship “USS Bonhomme Richard” on which an explosion and subsequent fire occurred in 2020. The damage was extensive, and the US Navy decommissioned the ship.  

On the other hand, although several media outlets reported that the Houthis launched an attack on the US Navy and damaged several of the ships, the aircraft carrier was not part of them—a fact confirmed by the Pentagon. This can also be confirmed with the current location (28.11.2024) of “Abraham Lincoln,” that is, that it is sailing on the South China Sea. This disinformation was debunked by colleagues from Factchecker.gr.