Between July 26 and 29, Georgian– and Russian-language (1,2,3,4,5) Facebook accounts shared a quote allegedly made by the Lithuanian Defense Minister about US troops. According to the posts, the Minister supposedly said during the visit to the Pentagon, “Every American soldier is our second husband.” The phrase also appeared in Russian-language Facebook groups (1;2) გავრცელდა.
A fabricated quote attributed to Lithuania’s Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė is being circulated on Facebook. In reality, during her Pentagon visit, the Minister emphasized the importance of the US-Lithuania partnership, stating that American troops stationed in Lithuania are regarded as members of the family.
The quote circulated on Facebook has been distorted. On July 25, Dovilė Šakalienė visited the Pentagon together with her Estonian and Latvian counterparts. The ministers met with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Following the meeting, all parties made public statements. The Lithuanian Defense Minister highlighted the history of defense cooperation and mutual trust between the two countries. In this context, Šakalienė said:
“As you know, and as we’ve spoken before, everyone, every single one of the US troops is one of our own in Lithuania, and we do deeply care about them. We do deeply care about our friendship, and we consider them family.”
Therefore, the version of Šakalienė’s statement being spread on Facebook is a manipulation. The goal of this distortion is too discredit both the official meeting and Minister Šakalienė herself. One of the posts includes the caption, “And then they are surprised when Russians call them prostitutes.”
About the source:
The Facebook account Levan Tavdishvili regularly spreads anti-American and, more broadly, anti-Western content, including disinformation. Myth Detector has repeatedly fact-checked false claims disseminated by this account in the past.
Archive links: (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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