Original title: Incident at the heart of Europe: A NATO member invaded another NATO member
On June 13, the portal Relaxirano.com published an article with a titled Incident at the Heart of Europe: A NATO member invaded another NATO member. The article says that the news that in the 21st century, in the heart of Europe, a NATO military member and its army invaded the territory of another NATO member, sounded rather amazing. No shots were fired in the incident, no war broke out, but instead, a big apology and acknowledgment that there’s been a mistake followed. A bizarre incident happened on the Czech-Polish border, near the village of Pjelgrizmov, about ten days ago, reports Blica.The link to the original article can be found here.
This is a great example of a clickbait. Namely, the title of the text is sensational and aims to attract readers to open the content of the article. But in the content, the truth is completely different.
Although it is said that the news sounds rather incredible, the author of the text created anti-NATO propaganda with the title. The first impression for the readers is that an incident really happened, i.e. a NATO member state invaded another member state.
But what exactly happened?
It is about an event that took place in May on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. In addition to the text, there is also a video, with text from CNN, which explains the misunderstandings that occurred on the border between Poland and the Czech Republic.
The alleged “incident” took place near Pialgrizmov, a small border village in southern Poland. Namely, in May, the Polish army set up a border post on the territory of the Czech Republic and prevented several Czech citizens from going to the church located on the territory of their own country. The Czech soldiers reacted to such behavior by the Polish soldiers and demanded an official explanation from the Polish institutions about the event.
In a response to CNN, the Polish Ministry of Defense said it was a misunderstanding that happened over the coronavirus pandemic.
“Soldiers of the Polish Army support the Border Guard in protecting the state border after its closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The operation is led by Armed Forces Operational Command, which is in direct contact with the Border Guard. The placement of the border post was a result of a misunderstanding, not a deliberate act. It was corrected immediately and the case was resolved, also by the Czech side”, the Polish Defense Ministry explained.
Borders between European Union countries are almost “invisible” because citizens enjoy the freedom of movement.
But due to the coronavirus pandemic, countries are blocking the entry for foreigners, in order to control the spread of the virus. Poland has been blocking the entry into the country since March.
This text, more precisely its title, aims to create anti-NATO propaganda, as well as to discredit NATO allies. The aim is to incite public discontent and insecurity in the NATO Alliance. The title is just a clickbait aimed at imposing a wrong impression on readers.
