A false publication in the Finnish media

On April 27, the Hufvudstadsbladet (HBL), Finland’s major Swedish-language newspaper, published in its print version and online an article about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, signed by Anna-Lena Lauren, a Finnish journalist accredited in Moscow by the Swedish Dagens Nyheter daily.

It turned out to be yet another low-grade lampoon steeped in the spirit of the basest Western propaganda. This is a hit piece, as stuff of this kind is called in Western professional lingo, a story written with the only aim to discredit a target at any cost.  The author has collected all the notorious fakes about the head of the Russian diplomatic agency.

The article is full of absurd and childish grievances of a journalist who failed to get the floor at Sergey Lavrov’s annual concluding news conference, which lasted for three hours, with the minister answering almost 20 full-format questions.  The conference usually incites much interest and it is physically impossible to respond to everything. A short while later, therefore, the ministry publishes detailed answers to all unanswered questions submitted by journalists during a news conference.  Incidentally, we have not received any questions from Ms Lauren.

We don’t recall any similar large-scale news conferences convened by Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Olavi Haavisto to discuss year-end results in the presence of invited Russian correspondents.

Anna-Lena Lauren writes that today “people leave as soon as they see Lavrov enter the room.” If the journalist means his appearance in Geneva in March 2022, she was obviously reluctant to mention the fact that it was held via videoconference, whereas his personal participation in the UN Human Rights Council’s high-level session and a disarmament conference was disrupted by the EU countries, which had banned his aircraft from crossing their airspace.  Mr Lavrov’s video address was boycotted solely by representatives of the collective West, who theatrically left the HRC room as if on orders from a stage director.   The delegates from all other countries listened to him with great attention.

The Finnish correspondent keeps silent (and she cannot ignore this) about the fact that Sergey Lavrov holds regular talks during his visits. In 2022, he paid 34 visits to 27 countries (twice to some of these). Since the start of this year, he has visited 18 countries (!).  During his latest visit to New York, he visited the UN headquarters and took part in UN Security Council meetings. He also had meetings with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine Riyad al-Maliki, and Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar.

Many meetings and talks take place in Moscow or other Russian cities. Foreign partners willingly come as guests. In 2022, for example, there were over 50 full-format meetings. The talks, incidentally, are normally followed by news conferences with Sergey Lavrov’s participation, where journalists accredited in Moscow have a good opportunity to ask their questions.

If Anna-Lena Lauren is a professional journalist, she must be fully aware of the above. It is also common knowledge that Sergey Lavrov has dozens of foreign policy contacts on the sidelines of any multilateral event that he attends in person.

A striking case in point is Mr Lavrov’s participation in UN General Assembly High-Level Week 2022, where he had over 40 (!) meetings within four days.  We are aware that it is difficult for a professional journalist to follow a huge amount of textual information and therefore we suggest that she take a look at survey videos summing up the visit (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, and the results), which demonstrate the absurdity of Western claims about Russia’s “isolation” in a form that even European journalists are able to absorb.

Following McCarthy’s old behests of the Cold War era (in any situation, both clear and unclear, blame the Commies and the Russians), Ms Lauren unexpectedly mentioned the Bolsheviks, ascribing to them the saying: “Best defence is offence, and for a lie to work, better spread too many than too few lies.” We didn’t know that the Nazi chieftain Hitler and his stooge Goebbels, who used this method, were Bolsheviks. It may also be useful to remind the Finnish journalist that “best defence is offence” is an age-old adage that reportedly was coined by Alexander the Great in Europe. The Americans prefer to say that its author was their leader, George Washington.

The Finnish journalist’s concept regarding the Kiev regime is clear. She would like to shut her eyes, plug her ears, and pretend that nothing is the matter. Ms Lauren’s snug reality is not for Kiev’s countless crimes, eight years of artillery attacks on Donbass, endless reprisals, legislative initiatives aimed at uprooting all things Russian, persecution of opposition politicians, suppression of the freedom of expression, and attacks on Orthodox believers.  This list could be continued ad infinitum. These are all facts but they are of no interest for the author. It’s enough to mention Zelensky’s ethnic origin (now an indulgence for all sins in the West) for it to obliterate, as if by magic, his and Ukraine’s glorification of Nazism, rabid Russophobia, annihilation of civilians, women and children, and much else.   In all evidence, Anna-Lena Lauren is a follower of Hegel, who said, “If facts contradict my theory, so much the worse for the facts.” 

It would seem a journalist from Finland, who is accredited by a Swedish newspaper and writes in Swedish (!) for a Finnish Swedish-language media outlet, would be able to identify with the horrible Ukrainian reality.  Spoken by a mere 5 percent of Finland’s population, Swedish is the second state language. It is used in education and publishing and by the media without restriction.  Why in Ukraine, where Russian is habitually spoken by the majority of the population, is it being eradicated with so much cruelty with full connivance from correspondents like her? But since Western journalists have lost all empathy for Russians and Russian speakers, their destiny and suffering, shall a similar linguistic example perhaps induce a bit of understanding?

The remark by this apology for a writer that “we are not allowed to travel to the separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine” is truly laughable. Moscow has organised press tours to Donbass for accredited journalists throughout these past years, for them to contact real people and see the situation on the ground with their own eyes.  Where there is a will there is a way. We have checked: the proud Finnish journalist has never filed a request for a Donbass visit. Not even once.

That’s European journalism for you, in all its wild, primitive, “blooming-garden” glory.

We have to state that Anna-Lena Lauren is confidently following in the footsteps of her namesake, Annalena Baerbock, famous primarily for her howling, militant unprofessionalism. This journalist has also publicly demonstrated her lack of professionalism for all to see, either by failing to ask a question at a news conference that lasted for three hours, or by being unable to sign up for one of numerous press tours.  Can the editors who have accredited Anna-Lena Lauren in Moscow ask what she is doing there? Helsinki is as good a place for writing dull and vile lampoons. 

Or perhaps the explanation is that she does not understand what is going on around her. Back in 2019, she frankly admitted that “the better I speak Russian, the more incomprehensible conversations in Russian seem.” “It would be simpler if I didn’t understand what people say,” she summed up.

There is just one thing in which we can concur with the author of this fake story, a true patchwork of lies:  Sergey Lavrov is a loyal person. He served and continues to serve his Fatherland faithfully and loyally for the benefit of the people of Russia.

https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/9bc6049c-9d16-4bef-9d98-0267ff8ab3ef