The 2026 NATO Summit, held in Ankara in July, was devoted primarily to organizing and justifying the spending of billions of dollars and euros to strengthen the “Eastern Front of the Atlantic Alliance’s territory.” This “reinforcement” does not merely mean “support” but rather an increasingly significant direct military involvement by NATO countries in the war against Russia in Ukraine.
In Belgium, the Arizona administration’s war-preparedness program, implemented by Defense Minister Franken, follows NATO directives to the letter. To prepare the public to support these astronomical expenditures, NATO also needs to carry out its war propaganda, stoking and perpetuating Russophobia to convince people that Russia is the enemy that must be defeated. The “Final Declaration” of the July 2026 NATO Summit is yet another example of this .
On NATO’s official website, one can access a series of “Fact Sheets” designed to foster this Russophobia:
“Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has shattered peace and stability in Europe and is seriously undermining international security. In its Strategic Concept, adopted in 2022, NATO defines Russia as the most significant and direct threat to the security of the Allies, as well as to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. (…) Through coercion, subversion, aggression, and annexation, Russia seeks to exert direct control over other countries and establish spheres of influence. It employs conventional, cyber, and hybrid means—including disinformation—against Allies and partners. (…) The Alliance will continue to respond in a coordinated and responsible manner to threats and actions by that country. We are working to strengthen our deterrence and defense posture, support our partners, and build our resilience. And to do so, we must, in particular, denounce Russia’s actions and combat disinformation.”
Most media outlets in Belgium are also complicit in this systematic disinformation. It is as if there were only Putin’s Russia; there is no government, only “a regime”; there is no democracy; it is Russia that is invading Ukraine; it is Putin who wants to attack Europe, and so on.
Recently, the Belgian newspaper *Le Soir* devoted its editorial and two full pages to a report by its Moscow correspondent on her “five years as a correspondent,” from 2021 to 2026. Right from the start, she “notes” that “Russia is a country like no other, that no independent Russian media outlet is allowed to operate within its borders, and that the Russian government believed it could carry out a ‘special operation’ that would be quickly won but has now become embroiled in the longest, most violent, and most devastating war on the European continent.” This is already a deeply flawed interpretation of the “Special Military Operation.” Furthermore, it erases and ignores everything happening on the “right side of history”: the EU’s ban on Russian media outlets such as Russia Today, Sputnik, and others; it ignores NATO’s extremely violent war in Europe against Yugoslavia and the hundreds of current EU sanctions against Russia; it overlooks the fact that on this side of the conflict, one can go to prison for putting up a poster that says: “Russia is not our enemy,” and that journalists and other activists constantly practice self-censorship in their articles, leaflets, etc.
The editorial in *Le Soir* that day was titled: “The Danger of Reporting on Putin’s Russia” and continued: “How can one report on Putin’s Russia when any statement that does not 100% align with the regime’s line can land you in prison—or worse? No dissenting voice, therefore, has a place in the Russian public sphere anymore,”
Also in *Le Soir*, another major two-page article is devoted to the rise of the far right around the world and its prospects for coming to power. And what do we see there? A photo of Putin and a piece titled: “Parliamentary elections without suspense, but symbolic,” along with a comment: “Most of President Vladimir Putin’s opponents are in prison, in exile, or dead.” And in the text: “While the Yabloko party—the only anti-war party—was experiencing a resurgence of interest, the government quickly curbed its progress by banning it and imprisoning several of its leaders.”
Also in the same issue of *Le Soir*, a correspondent in Berlin wrote a story titled: “A Nest of Russian Spies in the Heart of Berlin?” The article discusses the Russian Cultural Center in Berlin, which members of the opposition in Parliament accuse of being a propaganda hub and a haven for secret agents. This “House of Russia” is said to be used as a front for Russian intelligence services, and some lawmakers believe it must be shut down immediately.
These deeply anti-“Russian power” biases permeate the media, creating a great deal of confusion and fueling the Russophobia that already permeates our society so strongly.
How can we combat all of this? By debunking all the lies spread by the official NATO website; by fostering a culture of peace and cooperation with Russia ourselves, this is not about “Putin’s Russia,” but about the Russia composed of 160 nationalities, the Russia that is the heir to the Soviet Union, the people who defeated Nazism in 1945, and the Russia that is fighting today against the resurgence of fascism through military intervention in Ukraine. As demonstrators in Brussels and London shouted and wrote on numerous banners in June: NO TO NATO! NO TO WAR! STOP MILITARIZATION!