DISINFO: NATO may get Europeans extinct, removing their pensions and social security
SUMMARY
Is NATO looking for the extinction of Europeans? It may leave them without pensions and social security. Many European citizens have opened their eyes to the crude reality of the policies of their leaders. They already know that people like Mark Rutte will never lack a good steak, good health care and a golden pension. So more and more citizens get angry when their leaders do not ask, but directly inform them, that they will put their hands in their pockets, leaving their future economic, social and health situation in a critical situation. What Rutte said is nonsense. He is telling European citizens that the money they are sending to health care, education, pensions and other budgetary allocations will be used to buy weapons.
RESPONSE
This is a disingenuous distortion of the original speech by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on 12 December 2024. While he called NATO countries to increase defence expenditures and asked their citizens to make sacrifices, and while he mentioned pensions, health and social security systems, he did not imply big cuts on those budgetary allocations, much less to remove them entirely as this disinformation story claims. His exact words were: “I know spending more on defence means spending less on other priorities. But it is only a little less. 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 defences much stronger, and to preserve our way of life”.
By spreading false allegations about Rutte’s statements, this disinformation story aims to stir up discontent among targeted audiences about military expenditure and to reduce support for NATO.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Brussels works to bankrupt European citizens through its defence strategy, that the EU screwed its economy by supporting Ukraine and now wants taxpayers to pay, that European politicians are at the service of weapons manufacturers, or that the European Parliament is financed by US military companies.