by AFP | 22.Aug 2023 | Fact check
Germany has welcomed more than a million refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war, according to European Union figures. The newcomers have had to register and apply for temporary protection status, which replaces the need to apply for asylum, as agreed by the EU Council following Russia’s invasion. An old claim, which has recently resurfaced on social media, alleges that Germany has also imposed another requirement: that Ukrainian refugees must report all of their assets and sell their car if its value exceeds 7,500 euros. This is false.
by AFP | 14.Aug 2023 | Fact check
The European Union’s climate observatory, the Copernicus Climate Change Service, has reported that July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. While much of Europe was hit by historic heat, Ireland experienced another kind of extreme weather event being exacerbated by climate change: heavy rains. Within this context, an image circulating on social media appears to show a story about “asymptomatic global warming” published online by the Irish Independent, but the purported screenshot is fabricated.
by AFP | 08.Aug 2023 | Fact check
Social media users shared videos in June 2023 claiming that a convoy of thousands of migrants were on their way to Italy from Libya. Some of the posts, shared hundreds of times in Polish, claimed the Libyan armed forces assisted their crossing in an organised operation to “invade Europe”. But an AFP investigation found the footage was filmed during an expulsion of migrants from Libya into neighbouring Egypt.
by AFP | 01.Aug 2023 | Fact check
Since mid-June 2023, thousands of social media users have shared an article in Bulgarian spreading the false claim that the EU has “banned domestic cattle”, as well as other kinds of livestock. The article also claims the EU has prohibited the domestic production of dairy products and eggs. Both a European Commission spokesperson and the Bulgarian agriculture ministry said the claims are false. AFP did not find any information to suggest that such a ban is currently being considered at a European or a national level in Bulgaria.
by AFP | 16.Aug 2022 | Fact check
A video has been viewed more than one million times on social media alongside a claim it shows an exorcism at a NATO meeting. This is false. The footage shows a dance performance at a Belgium university in 2017. Both the university and the theatre group told AFP that the performance had nothing to do with NATO.
