DISINFO: Russia saves Europe
SUMMARY
The old elites of Europe were saying that Russian aggression on the continent was nothing more than a “scorched earth policy”. Today they are watching stunned as real assistance is given to the Italian people during an extremely difficult period. Moscow offered huge quantities of decontamination units and medical gear. The images from Italy have alerted other European governments about the possible need to resort to Russia and even in Greece various officials have floated the idea for asking Russian assistance. Some insist that Greece’s geopolitical family is the EU and NATO, but the policies of Germany during the debt crisis or the stance of the United States vis-a-vis Turkey have shown that its partners are not always fair.
RESPONSE
The European Union (EU) has not abandoned its member states. In the case of Italy, the European Commission approved a 50 million euros Italian scheme for the production and supply of medical equipment in the fight against coronavirus and also an Italian state guarantee supporting a debt moratorium from banks to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally and as far as it concerns Greece, two cases stand out. First, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to include Greek bonds in its new Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) which allows for lower borrowing costs for the Hellenic Republic. Second, the European Commission announced on 3 April the approval of a 2 billion euros Greek aid scheme to support the Greek economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. As far as NATO is concerned, the Alliance's Foreign Ministers have directed NATO’s top commander, General Wolters, to coordinate the necessary military support to combat the coronavirus crisis. For more information on the EU's coordination response to the coronavirus outbreak, a long list of initiatives can be found here. More cases claiming that only Russia helped Italy during the coronavirus crisis can be found here.