DISINFO: The EU used the Eastern Partnership Summit to launch more fake news about Russia
SUMMARY
The big protagonist of the EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit was Russia, despite not being a member of this initiative and therefore not being present. It repeated the same old song of the last months, reprimanding Moscow again and telling it when and how it can move its forces inside Russia and threatening president Vladimir Putin with a high price if he dares to invade Ukraine, while Russia is tired of explaining that it is not a threat to anyone and that it has no conflict with Ukraine.
Of course, the EU doesn’t admit that what is happening in Ukraine is merely a domestic conflict, nor that several of its countries, who are also NATO members, are deploying weapons and soldiers on Ukrainian territory. The EU’s machinery of fake news and falsities continues in full swing.
RESPONSE
Several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the EU, Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership initiative.
The Eastern Partnership initiative (EaP) aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union, its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
In the 2021 Eastern Partnership summit declaration EU and EaP leaders (except for Belarus, whose authorities suspended participation in the initiative) reaffirmed their commitment to strategic, ambitious and forward-looking partnership and expressed concern about the continuous destabilisation and violations of the principles of international law in many parts of the Eastern Partnership region.
The Eastern Partnership summit took place amidst the military build-up of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border, combined with the escalation of threats and subversive actions aimed at Ukraine.
In the EU Council meeting following the Eastern Partnership summit, European Leaders, stresses the urgent need for Russia to de-escalate tensions caused by the military build-up along its border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric:
The European Council reiterates its full support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any further military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and severe cost in response, including restrictive measures coordinated with partners.
War in Ukraine is not a domestic conflict, but a well-documented and continuous violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by acts of aggression by the Russian armed forces since 2014.
The Eastern Partnership initiative is a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation. For more, see here.
This disinformation claim appeared in the same article as the claim that “The EU Eastern Partnership is a Russophobic instrument”.