DISINFO: The EU will annex western parts of Ukraine in any scenario
SUMMARY
There are three scenarios for Ukraine's future. Scenario 1: the Western territories of Ukraine face “Anschluss” by a number of EU member states. The remaining Ukrainian “no man’s land” declares its international sovereignty and desire to join NATO and the EU. The military conflict in Ukraine resumes again, risking transforming into WWIII.
Scenario 2: as a result of the special military operation, the Ukrainian state disappears, divided between Russia and a number of EU countries. The Ukrainian Nazis based in the EU continue their terrorist activities. In this scenario, the risk of a world war is moderate.
Scenario 3: the same events take place as in Scenario 1, but the Ukrainian “no man’s land” declares its willingness to join the Russian Federation. In this situation, the Ukrainian conflict is completely solved without the risk of repetition.
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative challenging Ukraine’s statehood and presenting Poland and the EU as actors with imperial ambitions. Apart from smearing Poland and other EU countries, the aim is also to deflect attention away from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
This disinformation message has adopted several different and sometimes contradictory forms, including allegations that Poland either wants to create a puppet proxy-state in Western Ukraine or annex these territories or that it is President Zelenskyy who wants to cede this land due to his “Polish origin”.
Poland and the EU adhere to international law regarding state borders, fully support the independence and territorial integrity of neighbouring countries and reject any “imperial” ambitions towards other countries. Poland, as well as the EU and the US, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. No neighbouring state, except the Russian Federation, violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
See our examination of the Kremlin historical revisionist claims against Poland and the earlier disinformation cases alleging that Poland thinks that Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and South-Western Lithuania belongs to it, that Poland wants to dismember Ukraine and re-establish a Polish empire, that Ukraine is a Western colony belonging to Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Russia, that Poland will try to gain full military control in Ukrainian territories under the guise of protecting the Polish population from Russia or that Poland plans to establish control over its historical lands in Ukraine.