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This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.
A series of intense Kremlin propaganda messages in early and mid-April focused on spreading disinformation on social networks, primarily in Macedonian on Facebook—promoting the false Russian narrative that the EU is a Nazi creation
The accusations were directed at three targets: by default at Ukraine, which has been facing such accusations intensively since the beginning of the Russian aggression in 2022, then generally at the West and the democratic values it propagates and lives, and specifically at the European Union.
Media outlets registered these synchronized messages from Moscow, and the occasion was the statement by the European Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, that European leaders should refrain from accepting Moscow’s invitations to attend the Red Square on May 9, where the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism should be commemorated. This message from Kallas was followed by a series of accusations from the Kremlin that the Nazi ideology in the EU is what prevents European leaders from traveling to Moscow, which can also be seen on the Macedonian-language news aggregator Time.mk, and the main messages were conveyed by Maria Zakharova, who is the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry, as well as the spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov.
This was followed by the first reaction from the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, who immediately announced that he would attend the celebration in Moscow, and the day after that, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, who is already in Moscow, also spoke out.
All of this ended at the end of April with the widely reported news, originating from official Russian sources, that 19 world leaders would come to Moscow, followed by another warning from the EU not to travel to the celebration.
The EU has been a fascist creation since its founding!?
Truthmeter.mk monitored the posts on social networks and concluded that this false narrative from Russian propaganda has exerted influence, and hence the dominance of such a narrative, especially on Facebook posts in the Macedonian language. Here we will highlight several examples that can be read in full in the Fact-Checking section, starting with the last one registered at the end of April.
A Facebook post claims that the European Union is fascist and a creation of Nazi ideology. The author traces his “arguments” back to the creation of the EU:
The EU – a creation of Nazi ideology
When we look at the individuals who participated in the founding of this community in Rome in 1957, we will understand the essence of the ideological matrix.
Walter Hallstein, known as “Hitler’s lawyer,” who led the negotiations between Hitler’s government and Mussolini’s government, and since 1958, for two terms, President of the European Commission, the highest authority of the EU.
Among other Nazis with a huge contribution to the creation and development of the EU, Kalergi cites Hjalmar Schacht, president of the German Central Bank from 1933 to 1939, Hans Josef Globke, one of the authors of the “racial law” for Jews from 1935, Diana Mosley, wife of Oswald Mosley, leader of the British pro-fascists…
It is a manipulation of historical truth, and the author’s method was to use half-truths, such as the fact that Hallstein, also known for the so-called Hallstein Doctrine, may have been part of some Nazi organizations in his youth, but was never a minister in Hitler’s governments. More can be read in the extensively reviewed article by Truthmeter.mk.
The only ones who wouldn’t have been in Moscow on May 9th were the fascists!
The manipulation of the narrative of the West as the embodiment of fascism was noticed by Truthmeter.mk on the social network Threads.
A post on the social network Threads states:
Only fascists will not attend the parade in Moscow.
The review by Truthmeter.mk first recalls Kaya Kallas’ warning and her explanation:
“What was also discussed very clearly, and said by different member states, is that any participation in the 9th May parades or celebrations in Moscow will not be taken lightly on the European side, considering that Russia is really waging a full-scale war in Europe,” Kallas told journalists in Luxembourg after a gathering of foreign ministers.
And then the manipulation in the post was unmasked with the clarification that came from the spokesperson for the European Commission, Paula Pinho:
“We see the celebration of May 9 as part of Russian propaganda and an attempt to justify its invasion of Ukraine, and therefore we believe that we should refrain from giving legitimacy in any way to this war and refrain from attending that celebration,” Pino said.
More about the arguments used to explain disinformation and spread the Russian narrative can be read in the Truthmeter.mk review.
What did the EU and SS NATO sow?
The alleged Naziification of the EU, but also NATO, which is compared to the SS units of the Third Reich, was registered in a Facebook post in Macedonian. The post on Facebook shares a text and reads:
Biblical times are coming. What the Nazis and fascists sowed in the EU with the SS NATO, that is what they will reap.
Under this post, a screenshot of a text titled “Nightmare of the Elites: Why is Europe so afraid of peace with Russia?” was published. The text was published in Serbian on the portal Webtribune.rs.
The debunking of this post, whose source is a frequent transmitter of Russian and anti-Western propaganda on Facebook in Macedonian, states, among other things:
The thesis that “the EU is at war with Russia” is incorrect. The EU did not initiate the military invasion of Ukraine, it was Russia that did it, and it did so unprovoked. The attack on a sovereign territory and state, with a democratically elected government, was the basis for the EU and NATO countries to support Ukraine in its right to self-defense. Europe is not afraid of peace with Russia, but rather protects the principles of international law.… Indeed, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden stand as a strong unified bloc to strengthen Ukraine, also because of the public support these countries receive from their citizens in the polls. Their shared history of conflict with Russia strengthens these countries’ position against aggression, which makes their interests aligned with those of Ukraine.
More can be read at the following link.
Moscow and Washington were attacked by “Eurofascism”!?
Another very interesting development in the Russian propaganda narrative, this time aimed directly at the EU, but with “consequences” for Moscow and Washington, can be found in a Facebook post spreading such a thesis.
Namely, in a post on the social network Facebook, it literally says this:
Eurofascism, like 80 years ago, is a common enemy of Moscow and Washington.
Truthmeter.mk’s exposure of the manipulation states, among other things:
“The Soviet Union in the last century had an agreement with Nazi Germany (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) to divide territories in Eastern Europe that posed a threat to some European countries. For example, the Soviet Union and Germany jointly attacked Poland from both sides and divided it between them. Until Germany broke this pact, they were allies.”
Fascist movements in several European countries came to power between 1922 and 1945 (Mussolini’s National Fascist Party and Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Workers’ Party), but today, in Europe there is no so-called “Eurofascism” that poses a threat to Russia and the United States, contrary to what is stated in the post we are reviewing.
“More precisely, all the values and commitments of the EU, both declaratively and in practice, are against fascism. The EU, in fact, defeated fascism and stands for principles diametrically opposed to fascist ones!”
More information about this manipulation and the ways to unmask it can be read at the following link on Truthmeter.mk.
Did the Macedonian people also feel the fascist EU?!
The narrative about the “fascist EU”, whose origins lie in Moscow, could also be found immediately after the EU’s warning not to travel to Moscow for the celebration of Victory Day over Fascism. But this time, the manipulation plays directly with the emotional message, that the Macedonian people have also seen the consequences of such an EU.
A post on the social network Facebook sharing a video featuring Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže reads:
The EU is instructing countries from the “Western Balkans” (whatever that means) not to attend the parade in Moscow on May 9th, marking the victory over fascism, because it was not in line with European values!
I couldn’t agree more – the EU has long since stopped sharing anti-fascist values!
What are EU values? – Humiliation of the Macedonian people.
In the unmasking of this manipulation, which deliberately omits the context of the messages that came from the EU, it is written, among other things:
Our joint fight against contemporary forms of extremist and totalitarian ideologies, including neo-Nazism, is and remains a key priority. The EU stands firmly against all forms of antisemitism, which is incompatible with the core values and principles on which the EU is founded. The EU and its Member States have taken extensive legal and policy measures to combat acts of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
We strongly condemn the politically motivated misuse of the anti-Nazism narrative, and unequivocally reject the inaccurate and misleading use of the term ‘denazification’ to justify Russia’s inhumane, cruel and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine
It also recalls the appeal by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who invited EU countries to come to Kyiv on May 9, as a display of diplomatic muscle to oppose the military parade in Russia on the same day.
You can read more in the Truthmeter.mk review published in mid-April.
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For all other information about disinformation in the Macedonian language, related to Russian propaganda, but also standard conspiracy theories, as well as about the disinformation that was registered about the tragedy in Kocani, and it is not excluded that it was also placed from abroad, you can read in the Fact-Checking section of Truthmeter.mk.
