Lithuanian and Dutch defense ministers discuss cases of disinformation against NATO troops

  • 2017-04-10
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian and Dutch defense ministers and chiefs of defense discussed in Vilnius on Monday the security situation in the world and the latest terror attacks and agreed on the need for a smooth implementation of the NATO-Warsaw Summit decisions.

The issue of disinformation was a major topic during the meeting between Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Chief of Defense General Tom Middendorp of the Netherlands and Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis and Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Zukas of Lithuania.

Karoblis informed the Dutch defense minister and chief of defense about cases of fake news targeting NATO's battalion stationed in Lithuania, the Defense Ministry said.

Karoblis said that Russia continued its active propaganda efforts in Lithuania, but added that the public's resilience to information attacks was growing and the media was getting involved in deconstructing information attacks.

"Obviously, we cannot avoid information attacks and there will be attacks in the future. But we must be ready to counter them," he said.

There have been attempts to spread false information in Lithuania, claiming that German troops deployed in the country raped a girl and that the commander of the German-led battalion is a Russian agent.

The Netherlands' defense minister and chief of defense came to Lithuania to visit Dutch troops serving in the Alliance's enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battlegroup since this spring.