Original title: While the world is dealing with the coronavirus, the secret services have different plans
The portal Reporter.mk spreads a conspiracy theory for the alleged secret establishment of European secret service. The text of the article provides accurate and precise information on how the whole process of forming this body took place. However, the author imposes dilemmas in the text about the control system of such organizations due to the bad experience in the past. In particular, it raises the question of who and how will control this body, while following up on the Bern Club, which was allegedly established to have acted contrary to the goals of the organization. Among other things, he adds that it remains unclear what function this platform should have.
You can find the link to the archived original inscription here.
The title and text of the article do not correspond to each other. The portal Reporter.mk, through consciously and tendentiously twists partially accurate information, creates a conspiracy theory that in conditions when the whole world is facing the consequences of the coronavirus, almost no one noticed the formation of the new European secret service whose establishment took place in secrecy. The article does not specify who the author of the text is.
First of all, it is not true that this is a new European secret service. It is neither a secret service nor a platform, but an intergovernmental initiative. The Intelligence College in Europe is the only intergovernmental initiative to strengthen European security, which was initiated on March 5, 2019, in Paris. Hence, it is not true that it was secretly established during the pandemic. It consists of 23 member states and 7 partner countries that, on February 26, 2020, in Zagreb, signed a letter demonstrating their willingness to join the initiative.
This initiative is not legally binding but acts as a forum for the intelligence services in Europe. The establishment of the college is the result of the collective efforts of the European intelligence communities. This initiative aims to generate professional and academic considerations on a wide range of topics related to intelligence that aim to contribute to the development of a culture of strategic intelligence in Europe. Hence, its function is an academic and professional debate on certain current security issues and challenges.
Although the source of the information isn’t referred to anywhere in the article, the text is completely copied by the Serbian portal Kurir.rs, which was published two days earlier on April 9, 2020. Even when translating the text from Serbian to Macedonian, certain words are not translated authentically. For example, the Serbian word for “presidency” in identically copied in the Macedonian version. Besides this, Reporter.mk publishes this text in the section “conspiracy”, which in itself says what the intention is and what should be achieved by publishing this article.The author uses a strictly selected source that spreads anti-EU narratives and distorts the facts. The F2n2.mk team appreciates this post as propaganda and disinformation aimed at discrediting the EU, and by spreading conspiracy theories about their covert activities under pandemic conditions, to undermine trust in the European Union and its role in resolving crises caused by a coronavirus.
