Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Disinformation targeting OSCE

In Georgia the Kremlin currently appears to be trying to use the same weapon of disinformation it has employed in Chechnya and the North Caucasus, arranging provocations - often dangerous ones, involving loss of life - in order to put blame on other parties in such a clumsy way that the credibility of the operation is severely reduced. Most recently these efforts have been aimed against the OSCE and its monitors. On October 3, an explosion in the South Ossetian town of Tskhinvali killed at least 11 people, including Russian soldiers, and South Ossetian sources lost no time in putting the blame on the OSCE itself - the accusations were at once circulated by Russian media, prompting the outrage of the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, Terhi Hakala:

She pointed out that spreading of disinformation about the OSCE mission "may be taken as a signal of unwillingness on the part of those responsible to work constructively."

"The spreading of untruthful propaganda about the Mission - which includes several previous entirely false accounts connected with OSCE staff and premises - is a serious matter, endangers OSCE personnel," she added.

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