Promotion of the “double standards” trope by comparing migration crises in Ceuta and on the Belarusian border

What it claims

The situation in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta is exploited to discredit EU sanctions policy against Minsk. A manipulative comparison between the actions of Morocco and Belarus aims to portray restrictions against the Lukashenko regime as unfair and politically motivated.

Target audience

Examples (paraphrased)

We paraphrase rather than quote: propaganda's exact wording is built to spread, so we carry the claim and not the craft. Each example cites the post it came from.

• The EU demonstrates blatant hypocrisy: Morocco uses thousands of migrants to blackmail Spain without any consequences, while harsh sanctions were immediately imposed on Belarus for a much smaller number of people.

  InfoDefense (Polish), 1 Aug 2026

  t.me/infodefPOLAND/9445

• Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez, as head of the Socialist International, has no right to complain about border violations in Ceuta, as his ideology rejects the very concept of state borders.

  InfoDefense (Polish), 1 Aug 2026

  t.me/infodefPOLAND/9445

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Goal

To weaken support for sanctions against Belarus among Poles by depicting Brussels as a biased arbiter that only punishes Eastern neighbours.

Techniques used

• WhataboutismComparing sanctions against Belavia and Belkali with the lack of sanctions against Morocco for similar use of migrants.
• Obfuscation / Intentional VaguenessMixing the Spanish Prime Minister's ideology with Marxism to ridicule European open-border policies.

The real grievance it exploits

A sense of injustice that Poland bears the brunt of defending the EU's eastern border while other countries supposedly receive more lenient treatment.

How to counter

• Technique exposure: Propaganda uses “whataboutism” to distract from the fact that the migration crisis on the Polish border was artificially organised by Belarusian and Russian intelligence services as an element of hybrid warfare.
• Reframe: Sanctions against the Lukashenko regime are a response not only to migration blackmail but also to systemic repression against its own people and complicity in the aggression against Ukraine, which fundamentally distinguishes this situation from diplomatic disputes with Morocco.

Sources (all time)

• InfoDefense (Polish)Tier 32,124 subscribers
  1 post · 1 Aug 2026

  • 1 Aug · t.me/infodefPOLAND/9445