DISINFO: The actual ruler of the European population is the US
SUMMARY
The actual ruler of Europe is the United States of America.
The Italian people and the European people are eager to have friendly relations with Russia, but today these people cannot express their will. The people of Europe don’t have any role in the European Union, because – simply as that – the European nation is subject to the decisions of NATO and NATO is managed by a US military general named by the American president.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the US presence in Europe, portraying Europe as a vassal of the USA and trying to undermine the sovereignty of European countries.
The European Union is a sovereign entity, created by the voluntary initiative of European nations, and it has its own, independent foreign policy. Its citizens are directly represented in the European Parliament and Member States are represented in the European Council and the Council of the EU. The United States of America is not part of these institutions. The US had no role in the creation of the EU and has no say in its decisions.
In fact, the EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions about their own security and policies. The US is an important ally to the EU but EU policy is not determined by the US.
Additionally, the current secretary-general of NATO is not American, but a former Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who took office on 1 October 2014.
Similar disinformation narratives claim that NATO is a new type of US colonialism, that European élites obey Washington, that EU and NATO member states are subordinate to the US, while the US has long regarded the EU as a kind of protectorate, and that lined up with the US, the EU never took independent decisions.