{"id":16589,"date":"2021-04-13T06:42:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T06:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=16589"},"modified":"2021-04-13T06:42:32","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T06:42:32","slug":"remnant-of-the-cold-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/remnant-of-the-cold-war\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Remnant of the Cold War\u2019: Kremlin related media undermines the relevance of NATO"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Raise the <\/span>NATO <\/span>flag!”\u00a0 17th anniversary of Lithuania’s <\/span>membership. \/ photo by <\/span>NATO eFP Battlegroup Lithuania (@BG_LTU_eFP<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Article prepared by Debunk EU<\/strong> senior analyst in Lithuania Balys Liubinavi\u010dius<\/strong><\/em> and first time published in Debunk EU web page<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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In addition to usual messages embedded in false and misleading content about the NATO, February sought a rise of claims questioning the relevance of the Alliance. Associations were made that NATO is an unnecessary Cold War relict since the Warsaw Pact was dismantled three decades ago. Attention of Kremlin related media also fell on statements made during the meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence and Munich Security Conference. Moreover, allegations that nation-wide protests in Russia were coordinated by NATO countries were further amplified by claims from top Kremlin officials.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In February 2021, Debunk EU detected 7027 <\/strong>articles related to NATO, which were posted by hostile media sources. Within the period, Debunk EU analysts reviewed 3045 <\/strong>articles with potentially harmful content, identifying 710 articles with false and misleading content <\/strong>from 84 media outlets <\/strong>in the Baltic countries in English, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian languages. The articles had a potential reach of 609 million contacts. <\/strong>On average, approx. 25.4 false and misleading content pieces <\/strong>were identified per day.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Share by types of information, @DebunkEU data<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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In February, disinformation targeting NATO maintained stable levels <\/strong>with minor fluctuations observed in the first week of the month. Starting from February 8th, the number of hostile articles increased dramatically <\/strong>and reached its peak on February 11th<\/strong>, following the statements of Russian officials on the alleged involvement of NATO countries in coordination of the nation-wide protests in Russia<\/strong>. Throughout this period, the number of NATO-related disinformation articles almost twice exceeded <\/strong>the average of hostile articles published within the month, thus indicating the scale and importance attached by Russian side to these events. <\/span><\/p>\n

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Dynamics and triggers NATO disinformation, @DebunkEU data<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

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Case #1 NATO gave instruments to Russian opposition members<\/span><\/h2>\n
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What was claimed:<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<…> At the site of Poland’s permanent mission to the EU, the EU countries plus the United States and Great Britain gathered. In general, this is called the NATO format <…> Volkov and Ashurkov were instructed to resume illegal actions, \u201csince this entire information bubble\u201d around Alexei Navalny will not survive until summer. <\/em>(smotrim.ru 09\/02\/2021<\/a>)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<…> The fact that Poland is the organiser of the meeting also says something -protests in Belarus were actively supported from the territory of this NATO country. With the same youth creativity that many saw on the Kiev Maidan, and at one time in Hong Kong, and now with us. <\/em>(1tv.ru 14\/02\/2021<\/a>)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our verdict: <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Allegations of NATO countries supposedly instructing allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny to stir protests in Russia were amplified by testimony of the spokeswoman of Russian MFA Maria Zakharova, which was presented as an evidence. However, in her statement Ms. Zakharova does not provide any substantial evidence on Leonid Volkov and Vladimir Ashukov being \u2018influence agents\u2019 of NATO and speculates <\/strong>on Twitter post of Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU by guessing that persons were most probably instructed there.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month, false and misleading information targeting NATO focused on three key areas <\/strong>that stood out in comparison with other topics:<\/span><\/p>\n