Mostly false: “The euro was supposed to be as stable as the D-Mark, but it is as stable as the Turkish lira”

On May 3, 2024, German right-wing populist politician Maximilian Krah, who was the AfD’s lead candidate for the 2024 European elections, claimed on Tiktok that the European Central Bank was destroying people’s savings and that, although it was promised that the euro would be as stable as the German Mark, it was as stable as…

Mostly false: “Trans is a dangerous trend – Gender-affirming surgeries in Germany have increased from 120 in 2005 to 2.598 in 2021”

In the documentary “Trans is a Trend: How an Ideology is Changing Our Country”, published on the German news website NIUS.de, authors Judith Sevinc Basad and Jan A. Karon claim that gender-affirming surgeries in Germany have increased from 120 in 2005 to 2.598 in 2021. They also argue that being trans is a dangerous trend…

Mostly False: Euro membership is an economic detriment to Finland

“Euro membership is an economic detriment to Finland”, claims EU election candidate and member of Finnish parliament Kaisa Garedew from the Perussuomalaiset party (Finnish national conservatives). Although the matter can be viewed from multiple viewpoints, the claim, published by the party’s newspaper Suomen Uutiset on March 26, 2024, turns out to be mostly false. Euro…

Mostly False: After novice drivers, older people have the highest accident rate p/km

In an interview with the German news agency “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland” (RND), Stefan Gelbhaar, transport policy spokesman for the German political party “The Greens”, said: “After novice drivers, older people are the most likely to cause accidents per kilometre driven”. According to our research, this statement is mostly false. In the RND article “Driving in old…

Mostly False: The Digital Service Act is intended to prevent the sharing of unorthodox and creative ideas

In a video, EU lead candidate of the right-wing populist party AfD, Maximilian Krah, criticized the EU digital laws that recently came into force. The Digital Service Act, for example, “is intended to prevent unorthodox and creative ideas from being shared on the internet”, said Krah. However, a look at the facts shows that this…

Mostly false: “Energy and food are getting more expensive and companies are leaving”

Dutch ECR Group vice president Robert Roos claims: “Energy and food are becoming more expensive and companies are leaving. It is time to stop the green deal.” This statement turned out to be mostly false.  On 12 March 2024, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group) tweeted a quote from their vice president Robert…

Mostly False: “Only 1% of the EU budget EU is a share of the GDP of all countries. America has 33% of its budget in relation to GDP”

During an interview on Croatian Radiotelevision on the 10th of May, the Croatian EU Parliament candidate Katarina Peović claimed: “Only 1% of the budget of the European Union is a share of the GDP of all countries. America has 33% of its budget in relation to GDP.” By comparing the budget of the EU and…