Original title: Soros: If the pandemic continues, the European Union will collapse
The portal recycles an old statement by George Soros in order to spread anti-EU narrative.
On December 5th, the portal Vo Centar published an article titled Soros: If the pandemic continues, the European Union will collapse. The author of the text refers to a statement by George Soros to Reuters. Namely, he stated that the coronavirus pandemic threatens the survival of the European Union and in that context, he advocates the issuance of European bonds to help the hard-hit countries. “If the EU cannot address this now, it may not survive the challenges it faces now.”
However, Soros says that there is a solution, i.e., according to him, aid should be given to poor countries, and the big ones will be able to survive without help.
The statement was made in May 2020, when the text was published by Reuters, and when the European Union member states affected by the pandemic were looking for a way to take measures to deal with the coronavirus. The old news was used by the portal to create “new” information about the possible possibility of the European Union disintegrating if the pandemic continues.
The latest information on how the European Union is dealing with the pandemic shows that there is no possibility of its disintegration.
As of December 1st, the European Commission has paid € 40 billion to 15 Member States through the SURE instrument (SURE, support for mitigating the risk of unemployment in an emergency).
This support in the form of favorable loans will help Member States to deal with sudden increases in public spending on employment. Specifically, they will help cover the costs directly related to the financing of national part-time schemes and other similar measures they have established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including for the self-employed.
The EU has also issued several social security bonds under the SURE instrument, for which investors have shown great interest. This has resulted in favorable bond conditions, i.e. Member States will receive more loans than they will have to repay.
This is an example of how recycled text is used to spread narrative against the European Union. In fact, this is the narrative that emerged at the beginning of the pandemic claiming that it would be the end of the EU. The aim is to manipulate the public in order to impose distrust in the whole process of European integration and encourage Euroscepticism.
