DISINFO: German troops in Lithuania behaving like during WWII
SUMMARY
The Germans, as during World War II, evaluating Lithuania as their own land. They are doing there what they want. It shows scandal with German troops in Lithuania: at the end of April German soldiers in Lithuania attended the party where they singed anti-Semitic and far-right songs.
Another incident with German soldiers happened in May. They attended the military exercises “Iron Wolf” in Lithuania. The name of the exercises refers to the Lithuanian Nazi movement.
RESPONSE
This is a recurrent message about Nazis/Facists in the Baltic states, also partly linked to the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism.
The first incident, mentioned in the narrative, is real. 30 German soldiers in Lithuania have been suspected of singing anti-Semitic songs during a party. Some of them could also be guilty of sexual harassment. Germany recalled suspected soldiers from service in Lithuania. The incident and its participants were condemned. German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer promised that any soldier found guilty would be “punished with the utmost severity.”
The second part of the narrative is speculative. The Iron Wolf is a mythical character from a medieval legend of the founding of the city of Vilnius. The name of the Iron Wolf holds one of the most important units of the Lithuanian Army - Mechanised Infantry Brigade “Iron Wolf”. A Lithuanian paramilitary organisation “Iron Wolf” (“Geležinis Vilkas”) existed in 1927-1934 – it united mainly young army officers. In 1934, the followers of the “Iron Wolf” tried to implement the coup d'état against President Smetona – the coup failed, and the organisation was destroyed by the Lithuanian authorities.
In other words, the name of NATO exercises “Iron Wolf” clearly refers to the well-known legend about the foundation of the capital of Lithuania. It has no connections to Nazism or Fascism.
See other examples of disinformation when “Iron Wolf” name was linked to Fascism and Adolf Hitler, or that ex-President of Lithuania was an assistant to Minsk butcher or that the minister of economy of Lithuania publicly showed a Nazi salute.