DISINFO: Europeans are starving because of NATO-driven confrontation with Russia
SUMMARY
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called upon Europeans to spend more on American weapons at the expense of social spending. The prospects of closing hospitals and abolishing lunches for schoolchildren in Europe are real. The US is ruining Europe by making it de-industrialised and breaking off the social security system. In the UK, many old people are dying in their own houses from hypothermia. In France, scurvy is wide-spread due to the vitamin deficit; kids suffer the most. Other than that, in Europe prostitution is flourishing, people are compelled to convert into vegans, and street crime is huge. Furthermore, wearing dirty clothes is becoming a popular trend in Europe, because using a laundry is too expensive. To change this negative trend, Europe needs to resume dialogue with Russia. European countries have to stop arms supplies to Ukraine and end confrontation with Russia. Until then, Russia will go forward whilst Europeans will continue to starve.
RESPONSE
The article exaggerates socio-economic challenges of EU countries and presents an often-utilised pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative accusing the EU and its member states of a lack of sovereignty.
This claim was made in the context of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's speech in Brussels on 12 December 2024 about potential reductions in welfare spending in order to increase military expenditure. This disinformation story aims to stir up discontent among targeted audiences about military expenditure and to reduce support for NATO and Ukraine.
This manipulative claim is based on Mark Rutte’s call for citizens of NATO member states to “accept to make sacrifices,” including potential reductions in pensions, healthcare, and security systems, to increase defence spending for long-term security. Mark Rutte’s words were taken out of the broader context of his speech, which emphasised that any potential cuts to social spending would be insignificant.
"On average, European countries easily spend up to a quarter of their national income on pensions, health and social security systems, we need a small fraction of that money to make our defence much stronger and to preserve our way of life. Prioritising defence requires political leadership. It can be tough and risky in the short term but it is absolutely essential in the long term."
Rises in military expenditure are necessitated by Russia’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric about the possible use of force and especially weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine and its partners in the EU and the US for their role in supplying Kyiv with modern, sophisticated weaponry.
In addition, pro-Russian outlets often describe European states as puppet-states or colonies of the US, in this case, claiming that they are being forced to support the American defence industry at the expense of social spending. This article also pushes the narrative that Europe is freezing and starving (see narrative 3 of our article Smoke, mirrors and gas: the Kremlin deflects blame for the energy crisis).
Contrary to the claim about the EU’s subordinance to the US, the EU is a sovereign entity, created by the voluntary initiative of European nations. Furthermore, it has its own, independent foreign policy and EU citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament. EU member-states are represented in the Council of the EU and the European Council. The European Union is explicit on the subject of national sovereignty: “the Member States all remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of their 'sovereignty' in areas where it makes sense to work together.”
The autumn 2024 survey results show that EU citizens overwhelmingly support actions to strengthen Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's full-scale invasion.
See earlier disinformation cases claiming that Less social benefits and more military spending lead to dictatorship and fascism in the West that Europe is a colony serving the interests of the American military-industrial complex, that people in the UK have become so poor they might start eating each other, that NATO may get Europeans extinct, removing their pensions and social security, and that the US is pushing Europe into the abyss.