DISINFO: The minister of economy of Lithuania publicly showed a Nazi salute
SUMMARY
The minister of economy of Lithuania Aušrine Armonaitė was caught making a Nazi salute during her party event.
Lithuania is often criticised due to the glorification of Nazi collaborators and rewriting of history.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazism/Fascism in the Baltic States.
The narrative is based on visual manipulation. A picture of the minister of economy Aušrine Armonaitė allegedly showing a Nazi salute was posted on Facebook. The advisor of the minister explained that the picture was taken at the moment when Armonaitė was thanking volunteers at the event of the “Freedom Party” (Armonaitė is the head of the party) and pointing to the crowd.
The situation was also clarified with a video from the event (watch from 4:14:00).
The accusation of Kremlin disinformation on Lithuania of supporting and spreading Neo-Nazism is not new. See earlier cases: Nazi ideology is on the rise again in a number of OSCE participating states; Name of the “Iron Wolf” NATO exercises in Lithuania is a reference to Fascism and Adolf Hitler; European countries glorify Fascism, but Baltic states are worse.