Russia and China use pandemic to destabilize the West: NATO chief
22:05
Russia and China use the pandemic to destabilize the West, warned Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, in an interview for La Repubblica, a well-known Italian daily. He emphasized that these countries use propaganda and fake news.
He told the Italian newspaper that through disinformation Russia and China want to exert political influence on partners from NATO and the European Union.
According to Stoltenberg, the coronavirus is of natural origin, but he noted that “some issues remain open”. That is why he has opted for an “international evaluation to explain everything”.
“Chinese and Russian government and non-governmental forces have spread mass misinformation and propaganda to distort the truth,” declared NATO chief. “Of course,” he pointed out, “we showed that we are united and that we help each other, which is the best answer to fake news.”
Founded in Washington DC in April 1949 and headquartered in Brussels, NATO, the short for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 North American and European countries. Poland joined NATO in March 1999 and is a key ally.
“As long as we have free media, misinformation will not win,” Stoltenberg said. He assured that the Alliance was cooperating with the European Union in the fight against disinformation. “We must be ready for the second wave of infections,” added Stoltenberg, stressing that “we need to strengthen our resilience so as not to lose control of critical infrastructure.”
(La Repubblica, PAP)
