DISINFO: Claims about Russian contacts in Catalonia are a stupid forgery
SUMMARY
A New York Times article claiming that there were contacts between an advisor to the former Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, and Russia, cited a European intelligence report that the newspaper's reporters were able to see, while it later turned out to be a stupid forgery.
The newspaper claimed that Josep Lluís Alay, a senior advisor to the former Catalan President, met with Russian businessman Alexander Dmitrenko, foreign intelligence officials and Oleg Syromolotov, who is responsible for combating terrorism and serves as Russia’s deputy Foreign Minister. Syromolotov had never met Josep Lluís Alay in Moscow and outside Russia, and had no contacts with him, either in the past or the present.
RESPONSE
Recurrent self-victimisation technique to deny a piece of embarrassing news and qualify it as Russophobia or planned provocation.
The article from the New York Times is based on a report from European intelligence that synthesises a long investigation that included the interception of conversation between pro-independence figures in Catalonia. The leak from the Spanish police was also consulted by other media organisations like OCCRP or El Pais.
Asking for confirmation from Russian MFA: The meeting between an emissary of the independentists and Oleg V. Syromolotov, former chief of counterintelligence for the Federal Security Service is not information that is likely to be confirmed by the Russian MFA as secrecy is an important part of this profession. Moreover, this information is only a detail in this long investigation. The technique to focus on a small detail difficult to confirm to deny the whole story is classic in denial policy.
Moreover, the New York Times explains that this investigation did not establish Russian interference, though contacts happened, and the Catalonian side had a strong desire to please Russia and censored its own statements for this purpose. Secondly, Kremlin meddling in other countries' political life has long been proven by facts on many occasions.
Read also related stories: A publication of the New York Times about Catalonia is a stupid forgery, Macron distributes fake news on Russian meddling in referendums or Western criticism of the Navalny case is interference; Russia doesn’t mess with other countries' affairs.