DISINFO: Eastern Partnership and the Three Seas Initiative are anti-Russian
SUMMARY
The Three Seas Initiative is entirely anti-Russian – it cannot be analysed in separation from the “Eastern Partnership”, which is a military-political anti-Russian flank.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU Eastern Partnership and disinformation about the Three Seas Initiative. The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint policy initiative which aims to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbours: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The Eastern Partnership initiative is a mutually beneficial and constructive platform for countries in the region to build a closer relationship with the EU if they choose to do so. The EU does not demand any of its partners to make a choice between the EU or any other country. The Eastern Partnership stands for good neighbourly relations and respects the individual aspirations and ambitions of each partner country. Read more about the Eastern Partnership and its priorities here. The Three Seas Initiative aims at boosting connectivity and building common infrastructure among EU Member States, thereby contributing to enhanced EU unity, increased EU cohesion and coherence, further EU integration. It was created in 2016 and includes the 12 EU Member States located between the Adriatic, the Baltic and the Black Seas: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The disinformation message appeared in the same article as the claims that the bureaucratic EU did not provide any real help during the COVID-19 crisis. Read similar cases that the Eastern Partnership programme led to the collapse of the post-Soviet space and that the Eastern Partnership is aimed at weakening Russia's geopolitical influence.