Disinformation about how the EU was campaigning against Baltic cows for 800 euros

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On October 24, Nana Devdariani, director of the Global Research Center, during the talk show ‘Night Studio’ on ‘Obieqtivi TV’, made a statement declaring that after joining the EU, in exchange for their abstinence from having large cattle livestock, citizens of the Baltic States were given 800 euros in compensation. Her explanation for this phenomenon is on one side overproduction inside the EU and on the other, the distinctive intricacies of Liberal economies.

Night Studio, Obieqtivi TV, 24th October

The nonsensical nature of this statement is substantiated by statistical evidence. Since joining the European Union in 2004, the economy of all three countries has experienced a significant increase, which has on its turn boosted the agricultural sector, such as cattle herding or dairy farming.

Spreading false information such as above is part of the Kremlin’s propaganda strategy with regard of the Baltic States, which is trying to engrain the idea throughout the populace as if the economies of Baltic countries have collapsed after joining the EU.

Real Facts

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia joined the EU in 2004. After becoming a European Union member state, the GDP growth rate for all three countries saw an increase of 91% in the case of Estonia, 111% for Lithuania and 115% in Latvia. After receiving the EU constituency, farming production in Estonia expanded by 62.5%, by 58% in Latvia and 36% in Lithuania.

In terms of cattle farming, close cooperation between the European Union and Baltic States had already begun even before them entered the EU, in 1993 the breeders of Danish Reds invited the breeders of the German Angler, Lithuanian Red, Latvian Brown and Estonian Red livestock to Denmark. As a result of this meeting the European Red Dairy Breed Association was created, the main focus of which was to produce the best milk on the EU market, increasing the health or disease resistance of cattle, raising the protein content of milk itself and to better other components as well.

In 1984, the EU set up quotas for dairy production, which was mainly due to the fact that the sum supply exceeded the demand total. As a result of successful reforms implemented within the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, it was possible to develop a market-oriented agricultural sector. On March 31, 2015, the quotas on milk products were rescinded. Despite the existence of allocated numbers, exports of dairy products from EU member states in the period of 2010-2015 amounted to a 45% surge in volume.

via GIPHY

Estonia. During the period of 2007-2013, the EU allocated 4.764 billion euros for the economic development of Estonia, a large portion of the money was mainly  used to implement development and integration policies throughout the agrarian sector of the economy. Integration into the EU was also important in conserving original cattle breeds and for the augmentation of milk production. Nowadays, dairy farming is one of the main agrarian branches of Estonian economy. According to the data gathered by July 2017, European Dairy Association announced that one third of Estonia’s food industry exports come with dairy products. 98% of Estonian dairy product exports goes to other EU member countries. In this field the main receiver is Lithuania (31%) then come Latvia (26%), Finland (20%) and Italy (8%). Except for the European Union, dairy products are exported to Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and South Africa. Thanks to the export of products in these countries, Estonia has completely replaced the niche of Russian market in its abroad trading, where Estonian products can no longer be exported due to the embargo on food products placed on the EU member states in 2014 by the Russian government.

Lithuania. Dairy produces represent one of the most important sectors of the Lithuanian food industry. In 2014, according to Eurostat data, the dairy production sector reached 30.6% of the whole of Lithuanian food industry manufacturing. Although the livestock of milk cows has declined since Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union, the average milk yield per cow has almost doubled since accessing independence from 3.0 tons in 1992  until 5.7 tons in 2015. The Russian embargo on food imports from the EU in 2014 significantly affected the Lithuanian dairy farm sector, but despite the embargo, the sale numbers of raw milk exported from Lithuania has was characterized by a growth tendency in the period of 2014-2015. By 2015, the largest share of dairy products exports goes to the EU countries (76.7%). From these countries the biggest buyers are Italy (19.2%), Poland (18, 1%) and Germany (14, 7%). In 2015, the European Commission approved Lithuania’s Agricultural Development Program, which includes spending 1.6 billion euros for Lithuania’s agriculture development throughout the timeframe of 2014-2020.

Latvia. Dairy Farming represents 21% of the Latvian gastronomic industry. Production of raw milk amounts up to 20% of agricultural production and grants a significant income to the Latvian economy. According to the data gathered by the European Dairy Association, in 2015, there were 23,000 raw milk producers in Latvia. Although the number of raw milk producers is declining, the size of the cattle herds and the amount of milk extracted from one cow is still characterised by a steady growth factor. The European Union has allocated 2.5 billion euros for Latvia in the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy during the 2014-2020 period. In 2015, the European Commission set aside 420 million euros to mitigate the trouble in the dairy and cattle farming industry caused by the Russian embargo on EU food produce. Latvia received 8 million euros from this adopted support package.

Latvian Dairy sector in numbers

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Source: European Dairy Association

Russian Propaganda about the economics of Baltic States

  • People in the Baltic states were better off in the Soviet Union compared to  nowadays
  • Georgia’s integration in the EU may result in the deterioration of the economic situation like it  happened in Baltic states.
  • Because of bad economic policies, Estonia, Latvia can’t be effective countries and protect their  interests.
  • The economies of the Baltic states have  collapsed.

Student at the Myth Detector Laboratory

Topic: Economics
Violation: Disinformation
Source

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