Disagreements between the U.S. and other NATO members – Iran and Nord Stream issues, or spending 2% of GDP on army and defense – have been, since the beginning of Trump’s mandate, the frequent topic of the public debate, and particularly on the agenda of disinformation purveyors.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered her speech in Bundestag on September 11. On the agenda was the German federal budget for the 2020 fiscal year. In her speech, the Chancellor referred to the current topics, such as environmental protection, Brexit, the need to strengthen the cooperation and reaffirm the commitment of the Alliance’s member states.
Several days later, certain media portals used her speech to spread disinformation. As soon as September 14, Fakti portal had a heading reading: Merkel: It’s time to stop feeding American soldiers. Shortly after, the disputable content was copied and reported by other portals, like IN4S, Srbija danas, Intermagazin, Web-tribune, and Srpski dnevnik.
The articles reported that while commenting on the relations between U.S. and Germany in her speech in the Parliament, Angela Merkel said that it was time for her country to stop providing for American soldiers and to focus on its own. In line with this, it reports Merkel’s statement that the sole goal of the U.S. was to make its partners raise expenses, so that the money, eventually, ends in its pocket. Allegedly, all this should concern Washington even more.
Transcript of the 111th session of Bundestag, publicly available on the official website, shows the different truth. Merkel did not mention, at any moment in her speech, withdrawal of the German assistance either to American soldiers or to any other member of NATO forces. Moreover, she highlighted the significance of cooperation in the multilateral world and invited all countries to move towards the arranged goal – spending 2% of GDP on defense annually.