Romania has gone bankrupt. russian gas. russian propaganda. aid to Ukraine

This was claimed by Diana Șoșoacă, whom russian media outlets present as a ‘member of the Romanian Senate and the European Parliament’. In reality, official assessments by international institutions refute the claim that Romania has incurred ‘critical expenditure’ on Ukraine.

According to data from the Romanian Fiscal Council and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy: https://moldovainvest.eu/en/romania-en/bucharest/fiscal-council-romanias-aid-to-ukraine-and-moldova-does-not-explain-the-record-budget-deficit/ • bilateral military aid – approximately 540 million euros (0.22% of GDP);• total aid, including EU contributions – up to 1.91 billion euros.
These figures are not critical for the state budget and cannot lead to ‘default’ or ‘bankruptcy’.
Romania’s economic difficulties are systemic in nature and began even before russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine:• the budget deficit existed even before 2022;• in 2020, due to COVID-19, it rose to 9.2 per cent of GDP;• in 2024, it reached 9.3 per cent of GDP – due to domestic budgetary policy and rising expenditure.
In other words, the main economic imbalances arose not because of aid to Ukraine, but as a result of domestic financial decisions and the consequences of the pandemic.
Diana Shoshoake is a politician with openly Eurosceptic and pro-russian narratives, who has repeatedly spread disinformation about Ukraine. Her quotes are actively picked up by russian media to promote the key narrative that ‘support for Ukraine is allegedly destroying Europe’s economy’.
Fake news: Protests have broken out in Brussels over financial support for Ukraine.
This is being reported by kremlin-linked media. As evidence, russian propaganda is using footage of street clashes without any context or sources. According to the authors of the fake news, the protests were allegedly triggered by cuts to education spending due to support for Ukraine.
In reality, the footage circulating was indeed filmed in Brussels, but it relates to protests on 4 June 2026, when Belgium was debating cuts to the education budget in its French-speaking regions. Thousands of teachers and students took part in the rallies, and the protest was directed solely against the government’s domestic policies — with no mention whatsoever of Ukraine.
No reputable Belgian or international media outlet linked these events to financial aid for Ukraine, as fact-checkers from StopFake emphasised. russian propaganda is once again taking a video out of context and adding fabricated reasons to create the illusion that ‘Europe is tired of Ukraine’.
Fake: By refusing russian gas, Europe has lost its sovereignty and €3 trillion.
kirill dmitriev, putin’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, told kremlin media:‘The fact that Europe has lost €3 trillion by refusing Russian gas shows that it has lost its sovereignty and very significant economic benefits. Europe is currently in a very difficult economic situation due to the crisis in the Middle East. Consequently, Europeans recognise this. It must be understood that Europe needs economic cooperation with Russia, particularly with regard to the resumption of gas supplies to Europe. Therefore, all pragmatic European citizens can see that the EU’s economy is deteriorating, and the bulk of this deterioration stems precisely from Europe’s move away from Russian energy sources.”
When speaking of the loss of sovereignty due to the rejection of russian gas, dmitriev presumably means that Europe has become dependent on an external supplier who can now dictate political decisions to it. Dmitriev did not specify who this supplier is.
According to information from the European Council dated March 2026, Norway is the largest supplier of gas to EU countries, accounting for 30.9 per cent of imported gas: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/where-does-the-eu-s-gas-come-from/. The US supplies 26.2 per cent, North African countries (mainly Algeria) 12.7 per cent, the UK 4.4 per cent, Azerbaijan 3.9 per cent and Qatar 3.7 per cent. The EU still receives 12.5 per cent of its total gas imports from russia, but is strategically aiming to phase out this supplier entirely by 2027.
If dmitriev is attempting to compare the current reality with a scenario in which Europe would continue to buy gas at 2021 prices, he is failing to take into account the fact that prices began to rise rapidly in 2021. But now, in June 2026, despite the crisis in the Middle East, gas is cheaper than it was on the eve of russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In April 2022, even before the decision was taken, russia, in breach of previously concluded contracts, unilaterally changed the payment terms, demanding final settlements in roubles, and ceased supplying gas to those countries that did not accept its conditions. 
Based on materials from Stopfake.org, Spravdi.ua
Read more: Fake: The UN recognized Ukraine as a terrorist state