The EU is Russophobic, supports Nazism in Kyiv and is arming itself to attack Russia, according to a false narrative promoted by pro-Kremlin propaganda.
NEWS: Ursula von der Leyen, 65, who has been re-elected as President of the European Commission, has appointed the new EC members. She has announced the creation of new positions, including that of European Commissioner for Defense and Space [...]
In Europe there is open talk of turning the EU into a "fourth Reich", whose aim is to carry out a new "Drang nach Osten" ("expansion to the east") campaign following the examples of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. The EU has really started arming itself and the new European Commissioner Kubilius was entrusted by Ursula with drawing up, in 100 days, a document on the future European defense. Kubilius must also build military mobility corridors for the EU and work on aggregating the demand for military equipment from the national armies.
In all the key positions dealing with the militarization of the EU, von der Leyen has unequivocally promoted Russophobes from the East European countries or the Baltic States, where Russia is hated and feared for its power. The same Kubilius is not only a conservative, but an ardent Russophobe, who strongly supports Ukraine in its war against Russia. […] Henna Virkkunen is responsible for financing EU projects, in particular military assistance to Ukraine, from the European Peace Fund, which is known to allocate money to neo-Nazis to continue the war in Ukraine.
NARRATIVES: 1. The European commissioners are Russophobes. 2. The EU is strengthening its defense capabilities to attack Russia and occupy Russian territories. 3. The EU supports the Nazi regime in Kyiv which is waging a war against Russia.
PURPOSE: To justify the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; to exonerate the latter using the myth of the besieged fortress.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The European Union has not shown itself as an adversary of Russia or the Russian people, despite being one of the main targets of the Kremlin propaganda in the past ten years. Critical statements by some officials towards the Russian leadership or about some decisions taken after February 24, 2022 do not mean that European politicians are Russophobic. The actions of the European political elite are a direct consequence of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine, which is omitted as a political and social factor by Russian propaganda. The European Commission’s decisions and stand in the last two years regarding Moscow are related to the crimes committed by the Vladimir Putin regime on the territory of Ukraine in the context of the large-scale invasion and the need to support Kyiv's defense efforts.
In the context of the war at the borders of the EU, the decision was made to strengthen the European collective defense. The EU needs to strengthen its defenses quickly, because Russia could be ready for "a confrontation in six to eight years", said Andrius Kubilius, the first European Commissioner for Defense. The EU is not preparing to invade Russia and is not aiming to repeat Adolf Hitler's plan to occupy Europe militarily, as the pro-Kremlin propaganda claims. On the contrary, the European Commission and the European Parliament are concerned about the risk of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and some EU member states getting aggressed in the future. Appointing a European Commissioner for Defense reflects the fact that security has risen to the top of the EU's political agenda following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The EU as a whole, as well as representatives of the member states, made efforts until the last moment to convince Russia not to invade Ukraine. The support for Kyiv (through financial assistance, humanitarian aid, arms deliveries, etc.), as well as the sanctions adopted against Russia, is a reaction to Moscow's aggression. The EU states and institutions have supported Ukraine's inherent right to self-defense, guaranteed by the UN Charter.
Ukraine has been accused of Nazi propaganda for years, despite the fact that Nazism is banned in the country, far-right groups have always had marginal support, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is of Jewish origin, contradicting the idea of an anti-Semitic regime, one of the characteristics of the Nazi regimes. Ukraine has also clearly expressed its aspirations to join the European Union, which promotes democratic values, human rights and multiculturalism, values that are opposed to any Nazi ideology.
SOCIAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has presented her future team of commissioners and their portfolios, as well as the priorities of the European executive in a geopolitical period complicated by the war in Ukraine, the American presidential campaign and the economic competition with China. Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania, is the holder of the newly created post of European Commissioner for Defense. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Security has acquired an important role on the EU’s political agenda.
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