DISINFO: COVID-19 proves the EU is collapsing
SUMMARY
The EU is collapsing. The European Union is disintegrating into small and large principalities with ever more strictly guarded borders. Everyone and everyone is sealing themselves off. Forgotten are all the hymns of praise for the “common European values” that allegedly should have united this “elitist group of countries”. Is the EU really just an abbreviation for Selfish Union? The whole EU construct, with its costly bureaucratic institutions and “common values”, has failed the coronavirus test – at any rate, there are more and more confirmations for this claim.
RESPONSE
This claim exploits the coronavirus pandemic to push a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the EU's alleged imminent collapse. It also aims to pit EU member states against each other in an attempt to undermine European solidarity - another recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation tactic. There is no evidence to support the doomsday claim that the pandemic is resulting in the death or obsolescence of the EU or any of its member states. To cushion the blow to people’s livelihoods and the economy, the European Commission has adopted a comprehensive economic response to the outbreak, applied the full flexibility of the EU fiscal rules, has revised its State Aid rules and proposed to set up a €37 billion Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to provide liquidity to small businesses and the health care sector. To support scientific research into the COVID-19, the European Commission has earmarked €47.5 million for shortlisted research projects that can improve epidemiology and public health, including preparedness and response to outbreaks. The EU has also created its first-ever stockpile of medical equipment. The EU Member States are also helping each other in this crisis, for example, German hospitals are offering to treat critical coronavirus patients from France as well as taking in patients from Italy and the Czech Republic is sending masks to Italy. Read more about the EU's response here and here.