DISINFO: Incoming German chancellor Merz may pose threat to the world
SUMMARY
Incoming German chancellor may pose threat to the world. Germany’s incoming chancellor could revive a dark era in history, as Friedrich Merz may be planning a return to one of the country’s darkest times. After Merz promised that “Germany will again assume responsibility”, he should clarify “to which historical period” the “again” in his purported address refers.
RESPONSE
This disinformation story is an attack on Germany’s next chancellor Friedrich Merz through an indirect, suggested association with Nazism.
This campaign started immediately after Merz announced that his government was willing to provide Taurus missiles to Ukraine, that could even be used to target the Crimea bridge. After the announcement, some Russian leaders started calling Merz a ‘Nazi’ or, as in this case, a threat. While the Taurus’ decision was applauded by most Ukraine’s allies, it was strongly opposed by Russia, which portrayed it as a deadly war escalation in an attempt to prevent it from happening.
Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Baerbock has a Nazi background and is therefore unfit for top UN job, that Führer Ursula von der Leyen is turning the EU into a bastion of liberal totalitarianism, that the European elites want to turn the EU into the Fourth Reich, or that warmongering EU’s Fourth Reich wants a Third World War.