DISINFO: Baltic states are under NATO occupation
SUMMARY
Baltic states are under NATO occupation.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claiming that the Baltic states are under the US and/or NATO control. This narrative aims at undermining the sovereignty of the Baltic States. A related recurring pro-Kremlin narrative claims that NATO is a tool used by the US to control the policies of European states.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia made a sovereign decision to become part of NATO, joining on the 29th of March 2004. NATO is a political and military alliance, and NATO member states make sovereign decisions about their own security. NATO and US military presence in these states is possible only on the basis of the clear consent of the hosting nation. NATO decisions are made by consensus, after discussion and consultation among member countries.
Lost sovereignty is one of the most common pro-Kremlin propaganda narratives. Pro-Kremlin disinformation sources like to claim that certain countries are no longer truly sovereign. Examples of this narrative are numerous: Ukraine is ruled by foreigners, the Baltic states are not really countries, the EU is directed by Washington.
Read here similar cases claiming that Lithuania is temporarily NATO-occupied territory ruled by non-Lithuanians, that Eastern European countries in NATO are under Washington’s political and military control, that the US views the Baltic states not as independent countries but as a NATO springboard for conducting a military attack against Belarus and Russia, and that the Baltic states are dying because they chose not to be with Russia.