True: “Air quality in Flanders has improved over the years”

Zuhal Demir, minister of Environment for the Flemish government and affiliated to the Flemish nationalist party N-VA, states in the newspaper ‘De Morgen’ that the air quality in Flanders has evolved positively over the years. She claims that in response to an open letter in Flemish newspaper ‘De Standaard’ from journalist Nick Meynen, in which…

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True: The Iraqi Defence Minister received Swedish citizenship under a false name

Dagmar Belakowitsch, parliament delegate to the National Council of Austria, published a press release on November 28th, 2019, stating that the Iraqi Minister of Defence had faked his Swedish citizenship and claimed social benefits under a false name. This allegation is correct. In a press release Dagmar Belakowitch, Freedom Party delegate to the Austrian parliament,…

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False: Only politically conservative Croatian women are successful

At the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Croatian centre-right party HDZ  (Croatian Democratic Union) Women’s Association, Croatian President Mrs Kolinda Grabar Kitarović said that all successful Croatian women are both conservative and members of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). The claim turns out to be false. The Croatian Democratic Union is currently the…

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False: “There is no scientific study that proves neutral packaging of cigarettes makes people smoke less”

The Cigarette Manufacturers of Belgium and Luxembourg (CIMABEL) falsely claim that there is no scientific study that proves neutral packaging of cigarettes makes people smoke less. As of January 1st 2020 the packaging of cigarettes will be neutral in Belgium. The country will be the fifth in Europe that follows the trend of making its…

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False: Every 3rd refugee reaches Italy on a yacht on the eastern route

On August 9th, 2019 the German far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) stated the following on Facebook: “The latest figures from the United Nations show that by now one in three immigrants and asylum seekers does not reach Italy via Lampedusa or Sicily, but rather comfortably on a yacht on the eastern route.”  It is true that…

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False: Croatian President claims she was born behind the Iron Curtain.

During the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award speech, President Kolinda Grabar Kitarović stated that she was born on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. This statement provoked numerousreactions from the media and a storm of reactions on social networks.Kitarović was born in Croatia, which was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. Althoughcommunist-run, Yugoslavia was independent from Eastern Bloc…

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True: «Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain has signed the law which postpones Brexit if there is no agreement with Brussels»

The information that the Queen has signed the bill was published by the Russian news agency Interfax on September 9, 2019. It says that Queen Elizabeth II  has approved the document that postpones the country’s exit from the European Union if there is no agreement with Brussels by October 31, 2019, which allows to go…

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