DISINFO: European countries are persistently trying to revive Nazism
SUMMARY
There is no doubt that in the current conditions, the memory of the Great Patriotic War has not only historical significance, but also practical, taking into account the persistence of a number of European states to revive Nazism in new forms.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the EU of Nazism.
Pro-Kremlin outlets repeatedly talk about the “revival” of Nazism in the West. Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a widespread pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. Russia spent years preparing the information battleground before its kinetic attack, with “Nazi Ukraine” being one of its most prominent disinformation tropes.
The EU was founded after WWII to promote peace, democracy, human rights, economic cooperation, social justice and cultural diversity. The EU founding treaties emphasise economic cooperation to prevent future wars. Founders of the EU, such as Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, and Konrad Adenauer, were all active opponents of Nazi Germany. Part of their opposition to Nazism was the EU project itself, thinking that by establishing a political and economic union between European countries, they can ensure that ideologies such as Nazism never rise again.
Read other disinformation cases claiming that the The European Union is openly seeking to revive Nazism; that the EU glorifies Nazism, that Western ignorance of history leads to the resurgence of Nazism in Europe, that European Nazism is alive and it manifests itself in Russophobia, that Nazism has revived in Ukraine and actively cultivated by the West, that Zelenskyy is the heir of German Nazism, that West turned a blind eye to Nazism, that The US and Ukraine support Nazism, Poland, Ukraine, and the Baltic authorities associate themselves with Hitler.