This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.
The post manipulates and spreads common disinformation narratives used by the Kremlin, in order to discredit the European Union, without offering any evidence or facts to back up these claims. It is not the EU spreading lies, it is Russia doing so—using various means of propaganda to justify its invasion of Ukraine
We analyze the following Facebook post:
The EU is lying to you.
It is lying about Romania, Moldova, and Georgia, the “President” lied about COVID vaccines, corruption, and influence trade. They are lying about the corrupt Ukrainian dictatorship and the war they helped start which will not end.
The post contains several manipulations and disinformation. Namely, it claims that the European Union lied about Romania, Moldova, and Georgia. Given that elections have been held in these countries very recently, which, as it was officially announced, had Russian influence, it is obvious that this is what the post is saying—it wants to manipulate the public that this is not true, that is, that the European Union is lying.
Russian influence over the elections in Romania, Georgia, and Moldova
In a more in-depth analysis, Truthmeter.mk wrote about how Russian influence cast shadow over the elections in Romania, Georgia, and Moldova.
Presidential elections were held in Romania, with the entry to the second round contested by the far-right and pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu (who secured 22.9% of the votes) and the leader of the progressive-liberal alliance, Save Romania Union, Elena Lasconi (who received 19.18% of the votes). The fact that the NATO and EU critic, who primarily ran his campaign on TikTok, secured first place in the election raised suspicions. Romanian authorities have said there is evidence of Russian influence and cyberattacks that influenced the results of the first round. Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of the election race, and citizens are waiting for a new election process.
This situation in Romania has ignited the passions of Kremlin supporters, who have started spreading Russian disinformation across social networks. In order to cover up Russian influence in Romania’s elections, they began to transfer the blame for the first round on the Western countries and the EU.
Russian influence also played a role in Georgia’s recent parliamentary elections, which were won by the ruling, pro-Russian-oriented Georgian Dream party.
Russian influence was also observed in Moldova’s presidential election and EU referendum. Truthmeter.mk also wrote a more in-depth analysis on this topic, which you can read here.
It was not the EU, but Russia that began the war in Ukraine
The post also points out that they lied about “Ukrainian dictatorship” and the war “they helped start and will not end.”
There is no dictatorship in Ukraine. The current Ukrainian government is not dictatorial nor Nazi or fascist, as Kremlin supporters like to call it. President Volodymyr Zelensky is democratically elected in fair elections, receiving almost 75% of the vote in the presidential election. The current president of Ukraine is Jewish, and he defeated a non-Jewish candidate in the last election. Ukraine does have right-wing extremist forces; however, they are weak compared to other European countries. In other words, the Nazi groups that exist in modern Ukraine, as well as in other European countries, have no influence over the parliament, are not in the government and cannot be a justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine banned the promotion of Nazism in 2015.
The claim that Europe, the European Union has started the war in Ukraine is an absolutely inaccurate claim.
Russia has carried out a military invasion of Ukraine in which a large number of civilians and soldiers have been killed and injured. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched missile attacks on locations across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv. Russian ground forces entered Ukrainian territory, after which the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky responded by introducing martial law, severing diplomatic relations with Russia, and general mobilization. This invasion is the largest military attack in Europe since World War II and is the subject of widespread international condemnation, as well as sanctions against Russia.
The EU provides military and financial assistance to Ukraine, which has the right to defend itself from the military invasion and protect its territorial integrity.
The EU and its Member States are united in their unwavering support for Ukraine and strongly condemn Russia’s brutal military aggression against Ukraine and the illegal annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson.
Since February 2022, the European Council and the Council of the European Union have been meeting regularly to discuss the situation in Ukraine from different perspectives.
Russia must stop its atrocious war immediately. The European Union will stand by Ukraine with steadfast support for as long as it takes, says in the conclusions of the European Council of February 9, 2023.
EU leaders have repeatedly urged Russia to immediately suspend its military actions, to unconditionally withdraw all the forces and military equipment from Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. They stressed Ukraine’s right to choose their destiny and praised the people of Ukraine for their courage in defending their country.
The EU has shown unity and strength and provided Ukraine humanitarian, political, financial, and military support.
The post also points to some lies about COVID vaccines. Given that it is not specified which lies are in question, we can say that during the COVID pandemic, but also now, numerous disinformation and conspiracy theories related to the pandemic itslef and the vaccination against Coronavirus are constantly spreading, they are well-known and Truthmeter.mk and global fact-checking services have already debunked them.
From the abovementioned, we can conclude that the post is manipulating and spreading the well-known disinformation narratives of the Kremlin in order to tarnish the European Union, however, it does not provide any evidence or facts to back up the claims. The EU is not the one spreading lies, but Russia, which seeks to justify its invasion of Ukraine, using any means of propaganda at its disposal. Therefore, we assess the post we are analyzing as untrue.
