There is no ‘Nato order’ for the mobilisation of Bulgarian troops
False information is spreading on social networks that Nato has issued an order for the mobilisation of 30 000 Bulgarian military personnel, which will come into effect on May 20 2023. The Bulgarian website dailystandart.com writes about this “order”. False information is actively shared by users on Facebook and TikTok.
One of the main distributors is the site DailyStandart – read about the practices of similar sites HERE. A signal about the false information was sent by a reader of Factcheck.bg with a link to the information spread by this site.
Allegedly, on April 16 2023, Nato issued Order No. 123-NATO-2023, which mandated the mobilisation of 30 000 Bulgarian military personnel from May 20 2023. None of the publications shared the document itself, but only a text retelling its supposed content.
According to the circulated fabricated text, the order is issued on the basis of “Art. 5, paragraph 1 of the 2014 NATO Action in the Event of Armed Conflict Protocol”. The Factcheck.bg check showed that such a protocol does not exist.
There is no order with the specified number or with any other number issued by Nato, which requires the mobilisation of Bulgarian troops.
The topic of mobilisation has been actively used for the purpose of disinformation since the very beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Photos of call-up orders began to be shared by Bulgarian users on social networks only a day after the start of the war in February 2022. Although the Ministry of Defense has repeatedly denied rumours that there is a mobilisation of military personnel in Bulgaria to be sent to Ukraine, the topic continues to be used for disinformation on various occasions.
Earlier in the year, our country’s participation in the European Union Assistance Mission to Ukraine (EUMAM) was also used as a reason to suggest that Bulgaria would send military personnel to participate in military operations on the territory of Ukraine.
In fact, all EUMAM missions take place on the territory of European Union member states, and their purpose is to strengthen the capacity of the Ukrainian army to be able to defend its territories within its internationally recognized borders and to deter and respond to possible future military attacks by Russia and other aggressors.
Fact checked:
It is not true that Nato issued an order mobilising Bulgarian troops. Information about such an order is fabricated and shared by sites specialising in disinformation.
This article was first published on the factcheck.bg website.
