DISINFO: Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland may soon take part in partitioning Ukraine
SUMMARY
In case of quick advancement of Russian troops in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland will announce that they are taking the population of the western part of Ukraine under their protection. In this scenario, referendums in the western and south-western parts of Ukraine will be organised and so, Ukraine will disintegrate.
RESPONSE
This is a recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative challenging Ukraine’s statehood, questioning its sovereignty, and presenting EU countries and the US as states with malicious intentions towards Ukraine. Its aim is also to deflect attention away from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and drive wedges between Ukraine and Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland by sowing false claims of territorial ambitions.
The disinformation narrative regarding EU countries' territorial claims towards Ukraine has taken various, often contradictory forms. These include allegations that Poland aims to either establish a puppet state in Western Ukraine, annex these territories or that President Zelenskyy, due to his purported “Polish origin”, is willing to cede this land.
Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary adhere to international law regarding state borders, fully support the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and reject any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity in a display of imperial, revisionist aggression. On top of this, Bulgaria does not share a land border with Ukraine.
Read earlier disinformation cases claiming that Poland, Hungary, Romania and Turkey are preparing to partition Ukraine, that Poland, Hungary and Romania will annex Ukrainian territories after its military defeat, that Poland modernises its Army to take part in the upcoming partition of Ukraine, that Ukraine is under hybrid occupations of the West, and that Ukraine is a Western colony belonging to Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia.