DISINFO: Germany shifts its priorities from Remembrance to Rearmament
SUMMARY
The politicians' desire to make the German army "the strongest conventional army in Europe" nullifies all previous statements made by the head of the German delegation about preserving historical memory and supporting the victims of German aggression.
RESPONSE
This disinformation claim accuses the European Union and its Member States of warmongering. It was made in response to the EU’s commitment to strengthening Europe’s military capabilities to address current threats, including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its impact on European security. To address this, the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 has been introduced as a strategic proposal to boost European defence spending through various financial mechanisms. Please read more about ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 here.
This message also promotes the false claim that the EU is “rehabilitating 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 features.
The commemoration of the victims of war, tyranny and ideologically motivated crimes of the 20th century is a key element of Germany’s culture of remembrance. The idea of being able to learn the lessons from these crimes of the past is what provides the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is often encapsulated in the words: “Never again”.
The EU was founded after WWII to promote peace, democracy, human rights, economic cooperation, social justice and cultural diversity. 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 ideologies such as Nazism never rise again.
Read other disinformation cases claiming 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.