DISINFO: Poland calls upon NATO to establish a special military force to be used against Belarus
SUMMARY
Polish civil servants are calling on NATO to establish special security forces from the armies of Poland and the Baltic states. According to their idea, this Army may be used to fight the Belarusian authorities.
Poland proposed to inspire an artificial economic crisis in Belarus in order to destroy the economy of this country, provoke devaluation and cause a shortage of goods.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Western attempts to organise a colour revolution in Belarus and to disrupt Belarusian-Russian relations.
The claims that Poland and NATO are trying to “establish a special military force to be used against Belarus” is a conspiracy theory. Poland is a neighbour of Belarus and it continues to support the Belarusian people. Poland respects the principles of international law and does not intervene in the domestic affairs of any country.
On 14 August 2020, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki presented the so-called “Solidarity Plan”, which is aimed at supporting Belarusian society, which faces harsh repressions from the side of the Belarusian authorities. This Plan has five components – support for people facing political repressions; a scholarship programme; better access to the Polish labour market; support to independent media; support to Belarusian NGOs. These steps have no connection to the alleged “active interference in the domestic affairs of Belarus”. The same can be said of the European Union, which has also stated that the elections were neither free nor fair and on 2 October 2020, imposed restrictive measures against 40 individuals identified as responsible for repression and intimidation against peaceful demonstrators, opposition members and journalists in the wake of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, as well as for misconduct of the electoral process. The Council added 15 members of the Belarusian authorities, including Alexandr Lukashenko, as well as his son and National Security Adviser Viktor Lukashenko, to the list of sanctions, on 6 November 2020.
See other examples of similar messages: The West supports a bloody post-election Maidan scenario in Belarus; The West wants to prepare Maidan in Belarus and Poland presented a plan of active interference in the domestic affairs of Belarus.
The same article contains another disinformation message that the Polish Prime Minister claims that the territory of Western Belarus historically belongs to Poland.