The portal Magazin.mk in its article transmits news published by the German portal Die Welt that “Putin and the EU will create a substitution for NATO.” What is particularly confusing is that they refer to the German portal Die Welt, while informer.rs is stated as a source.
The article states that the European Union was allegedly forced to impose sanctions on the Russian Federation in 2014, under US pressure. The author of the text, a certain Edmond Bekiri, claims that these restrictive measures not only “failed to undermine the Russian economy, making it only stronger, but Moscow also maintained political relations with the European capitals.” The author of the text further adds that “the coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that the Russian authorities are not Europe’s enemy.”
The rest of the text quotes and paraphrases several statements by Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, Ambassador Vladimir Chezhov, who, among other things, spoke of the readiness of the Russian troops to take part in the European Union’s military command operations in third countries. Citing the statement from the Russian diplomat, the portal said: “Russia is not giving up on the plans announced a few years ago for the creation of a single economic space from Vladivostok to Lisbon.” In the end, it is stated that “Europe should not be afraid of the US reaction, because Russia can move to defend the EU instead of NATO.”
Here you can read the link to the archived original article.
It is not true that a new alliance is being formed. For the European allies, there is no other alternative than NATO. To clarify, the EU as an intergovernmental organization can in no way be a member of NATO, but a NATO partner. Out of a total of 28 EU member states, 22 are NATO members. The North Atlantic Alliance has been around for more than 70 years, constantly adapting to new threats and strengthening with new allies.
European countries do not see their future in Russia but in the EU and NATO. Many European countries have in the past been part of the Soviet Union or have been in a military alliance with the USSR, whose successor today is the Russian Federation. Today, 11 of them are members of NATO, and 10 are members of the EU. All of these countries have opted for democracy and the rule of law, economic prosperity, security, and safety, as opposed to authoritarian regimes, human rights abuses, low living standards, etc. The reasons are numerous. In the past, the Warsaw Pact invaded and occupied former Czechoslovakia, and in the early 1990s the Soviet Union invaded Lithuania, Latvia, Chechnya, Russia did not recognize Kosovo’s independence and threatened to veto the United Nations Security Council, the Russian Army attacked Georgia and annexed Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as Crimea in Ukraine. Also, Russia has conducted a series of intelligence operations in the United States, Europe, and the Balkans, aimed directly at interfering in the internal management of states, interfering in the electoral processes and helping to violently overthrow legitimately elected representatives in Montenegro, and poisoning and assassinations are their most familiar modus operandi.
Even ambassador Chezhov himself does not talk about forming a new alliance with the EU, because he is aware that that can’t happen. It is true that in his interview, Ambassador Chizhov advocated an alleged crisis in the “Euro-Atlantic security structure”, and he believes the EU, with the formation of PESCO, wants to become strategically independent of NATO. But at no point does he talk about any new alliance, nor can Russia, instead of NATO, defend the EU. In fact, what Ambassador Chizhov points out is that in the future Russia could cooperate with the EU within the framework of PESCO in the field of cybersecurity or possibly joint participation in missions in third countries, only if PESCO does not aim to build bridges and roads that would enable NATO troops greater mobility on the eastern border with Russia. But given the experience of Estonia and Georgia in the orchestrated cyber-attacks sponsored by Russia, this option is not as honest as it sounds. Who is actually Vladimir Chizhov? He is a prominent Russian career diplomat who performed diplomatic duties in the Balkans and Cyprus at very critical times, countries that are of great strategic interest to Russia. He is a good connoisseur of the situation in the Balkans, and since 2010 he has been the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the EU. What is interesting is that in 2009 Vladimir Chizhov’s son, Vasily Chizhov, was expelled from Russia’s permanent mission to NATO for espionage.
The portal Magazin.mk completely copies the text from the Serbian portal Informer.rs. This is a conspiracy theory posted by informer.rs, because what is noticeable in both texts is that only a few statements by Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov were transmitted, to which texts are added that do not exist in the interview published integrally on the website of Permanent Russia’s mission in Europe. Secondly, the timing of the publication of the articles is quite symptomatic. Namely, informer.rs is the first to publish the article on April 22, 2020, at 11:07 AM, and the magazine.mk expressly copied it and published it only 22 minutes later, i.e. on April 22, 2020, at 11:29 AM.The portal Magazin.mk often publishes texts with anti-NATO and anti-EU narratives. According to the research on the legal status of the portal Magazin, this is a portal with mk domain registered to a natural person Vasko Beleski, with an address in Switzerland. The portal has highlighted the Impressum with editors, reporters, marketing, and organization, but not a publisher as a legal entity. The only legal connection it states is “A member of SuisseControls AG. If you open the website of this Swiss company, you can see the services it offers:
“SuisseControls’ range of services includes: security services, support services, infrastructure services, cleaning services, and real estate services.” An interesting mix of services, especially if you add media to it, right!?
The author uses a strictly selected source that spreads anti-EU and anti-NATO narratives and distorts the actual facts even from the statements of the Ambassador himself. Additionally, in the title itself, he introduces the pandemic, something for which there is not a single question, comment, or answer in the interview. The F2N2.mk team labels this text as a conspiracy theory and disinformation aimed at discrediting NATO. At the same time, some information is deliberately misused to distort the facts in order to create a sense of insecurity, as well as to spread anti-NATO narrative in society.
