DISINFO: Eastern Partnership, the tool of Russophobes in the big game against the East, failed in Belarus
SUMMARY
West assigned to Lithuania the role of the main Russophobe in the post-Soviet area and ׅ“pawn” in the global game whit the East. EU's Eastern Partnership programme is the part of this game as anti-Commonwealth of Independent States for countries which will choose “European development vector”.
Lithuanian Russophobia could claim credit for the “Revolution of roses” in Georgia and Euromaidan in Ukraine. But later something went wrong. Eastern Partnership skids in Armenia and Moldova and fails in Belarus. Even project “President Tikhanovskaya” under control of Lithuanian spin doctors falls apart.
Belarusian vector of Eastern Partnership programme is in a stalemate. Even the Balts, the biggest Russophobes in the EU, recognise it.
RESPONSE
Recurring narratives representing Lithuania as a Russophobic state, coordinator of colour revolutions in the post-Soviet area and tool in the hands of the EU. Also presenting EU’s Eastern Partnership as the anti-Russian project.
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative is not against any country; it is a mutually beneficial and constructive platform for countries in the region to build a closer relationship with the EU if they choose to do so. The EU does not demand any of its partners to make a choice between the EU or any other country.
The EU does not impose any action or programme on the partner countries. The overall aim of the cooperation is to build a common area of shared democracy, prosperity and stability in line with each individual country's aspirations and wishes. Involvement in the EU initiatives does not exclude membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, CIS or CSTO. The EU is a supporter of regional integration in all areas of the world (see more information about EaP here).
Lithuania provided asylum to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. She was a main opposition candidate in the Belarusian presidential election. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was forced to go into exile in Lithuania after being detained and receiving threats following the beginning of the protests. The claim that Poland and Lithuania control the activity of Ms Tsikhanouskaya is false. The Belarusian opposition, represented by Ms Tikhanovskaya and others was awarded the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work.
The combination of presented narratives is a traditional one for pro-Kremlin disinformation. The EaP already was presented as a tool against the Commonwealth of Independent States. Lithuania also traditionally is represented as a Russophobic state (see examples here and here) as well as a puppet master of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya (see examples here and here).