DISINFO: The EU's Global Gateway initiative ties Africans' commitment to notorious Western values and Russophobia
SUMMARY
The EU's Global Gateway initiative proposes nothing less than affirming Africans' commitment to notorious Western values and norms (including the superiority of homosexual people, juvenile justice, racism, and Russophobia) in exchange for help.
RESPONSE
This narrative is part of a broader pro-Kremlin effort to portray Europe and the West as in a state of moral decay, and their values are presented as pernicious, immoral, degenerate, and a threat to traditional values. By framing diversity and equality as conspiracy theories, such disinformation campaigns aim to sow division and erode public confidence in democratic institutions.
Firstly, the EU's Global Gateway initiative is not conditional on accepting any specific social or political ideology. It aims to promote a new European strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The initiative is the EU’s contribution to narrowing the global investment gap worldwide, and is in line with the commitment of the G7 leaders from June 2021 to launch a values-driven, high-standard and transparent infrastructure partnership to meet global infrastructure development needs. The inaugural milestone of the Global Gateway was the Africa-Europe Investment Package with approximately €150 billion of investment dedicated to bolstering cooperation with African partners.
Secondly, the claim also promotes hate speech against LGBT individuals by portraying their fundamental rights as a global conspiracy for domination, framing them as part of an agenda rather than as people deserving of the same rights and protection as everyone else. It dangerously promotes the rhetoric that equality and dignity for all people are "Western-imposed" values rather than universal human rights.
"Juvenile justice" has also been a target of pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns for years. Groundless allegations are spread, claiming that this issue has been imposed by the West and gives minors unlimited rights, which in the end is directed against the institution of family and its values.
Thirdly, the claim that the EU promotes racism is completely unfounded. The European Union provides a consistent policy to combat racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance. Article No. 2 of the Treaty on European Union says: ‘The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.’
Finally, this claim contains a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the EU of Russophobia. The EU is not Russophobic but had to respond to the aggressive behaviour of the Russian Federation particularly after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and its continued aggression against many of its neighbours.
You can read similar cases such as Europeans flee to Russia because of juvenile justice and homosexual dictatorship", that unlike Russia the West degrades traditional values and endangers societies, that Gay fascism has long been present in Europe and the US, that focus on LGBT groups in the West is a sign of civilisational collapse, that Western liberalism is a religious sect trying to destroy traditional values, and that Russia welcomes those who suffer from the forcibly imposed LGBT ideology in their countries.