On a Facebook post published by Milenko Nedelkovski on 19.02.2020, a picture of a US Army helicopter transporting containers was posted. Further, in the description of the post, it is claimed that it is a NATO helicopter, allegedly delivering weapons and stressed that they were “intended for NLA and KLA terrorists who later used it against us, the Macedonian security forces”. This post does not specify the source of the image and the information presented for verification purposes. This same post has been shared 61 time.
The allegations contained in the post description that during the 2001 armed conflict NATO helicopters have been supplying weapons to terrorist groups in Macedonia are false and incorrect.
The image shown on the post that looks like a military helicopter delivering a container can be find on Wikipedia, but the original image comes from the official website of the US Department of Defense. Namely, this is the official image of the US Army made on October 26, 2013 in Afghanistan. The picture shows a military helicopter CH-47 Chinook owned by the US Army’s 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, which supplies materials during base closures in the Afghan province of Wardak.
Even on Wikipedia, which is generally regarded as an unreliable source of information due to the fact that anyone can update the content and does not have an adequate data checking process, one can easily find an image that clearly explains from when the image dates and for what purpose this helicopter was used.
The post of Milenko Nedelkovski is tendentious and manipulative. The purpose of this post is to create a false picture of the NATO Alliance, and by playing with the national feelings among the citizens, to undermine their support for the Republic of North Macedonia’s NATO membership.
The same post, with the same image and identical content, was posted on 19.02.2019 on the Facebook page of Vladimir Icev Saldjiev.We can confirm with confidence that this is recycled fake news, which is published at an identical time of the year. Last year, on February 6, 2019, the Accession Protocol for the Republic of North Macedonia’s NATO membership was signed, and the process of ratification of the Accession Protocol in the national legislation of the NATO member states began. At that time, since the signing of the Prespa Agreement, our country has been under intense attack by fabricated fake news aimed at undermining the support of the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia for NATO membership. One year later we have a similar situation.
The image and information in the post are intentionally misused in order to create an anti-NATO narrative among the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia by distorting the facts.
The F2n2.mk team regards this post as false and manipulative, and recommends that Milenko Nedelkovski’s statements and posts be taken with great caution.
