DISINFO: The EU is trying to bribe Belarus
SUMMARY
We consider the EUR 3 billion package of economic support for a democratic Belarus an attempt to directly interfere in its internal affairs, and an attempt to bribe those powers who, for their own selfish interest, will not hesitate to launch another “colour revolution” in their homeland, which will have dire consequences. There are a number of EU countries and bodies, who make no effort to hide that they are paving the way for such a scenario.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the lost sovereignty and Belarus. This claim was neither counterbalanced nor critically challenged in the article.
EU's comprehensive plan of economic support is neither a bribe nor the price of the national sovereignty of Belarus. Democratisation does not imply giving up sovereignty.
The plan, of up to €3 billion, reflects the European Union's commitment to supporting the Belarusian people's wishes for a peaceful democratic transition in the country following the Presidential elections of August 2020, which were neither free nor fair.
Once Belarus embarks on a democratic transition, the EU will activate the €3 billion package, a mix of grants and loans leveraging public and private investments, to help Belarus to stabilise its economy, reform its institutions to make them more democratic and help increase the economy's resilience, growth potential and job creation. More details about the EU support can be read here.
Similar cases of disinformation in the database claim that the EU is offering a bribe to Belarus for "democratisation", that the West wants to destroy Belarusian economy and impoverish the country, that Poland plans to colonise Belarus, calling this process “European integration”, and that Tsikhanouskaya’s participation in an EU Council meeting is interference in Belarus’s affairs.
See also European Council conclusions on Belarus regarding the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in Minsk.