No, the European Parliament has not declared COVID-19 a fraud

David Williams June 22, 2023
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The European Parliament has not declared COVID-19 to be a fraud. Image by AP PHOTO

WHAT WAS CLAIMED

The European Parliament has declared that COVID-19 is a fraud at a recent conference.

OUR VERDICT

False. The conference, which was held within the European Parliament building, was not an official event. The legislative body has distanced itself from comments made at the event.

A Facebook post claims a video shows the European Parliament stating COVID-19 is a fraud.

This is false. The video isn't of the European Parliament, but is from a conference of COVID vaccine sceptics held in a parliamentary building in Brussels in May 2023.

A European Parliament representative told AAP FactCheck the summit was not an official parliamentary event and does not reflect the European Union legislative body's views on the pandemic.

The claim is made in the text of a Facebook post (screenshot here) which shares a 23-minute video played on loop for eight hours.

"This is the European Parliament speaking 23 minutes live loop Saying covid 19 all lies ... This is the European Parliament stating that COVID-19 IS A FRAUD," the post claims.

A screenshot of the Facebook video and post.
American financial analyst David Martin is not a European politician.

But the video is not from a European Parliament plenary session of its 705 members (MEPs).

The sole speaker in the video is David Martin, a US financial analyst. Dr Martin is neither an MEP nor a medical doctor.

He has made several false COVID-19 claims, such as here, here and here. AAP FactCheck has debunked a related claim he made at the summit.

Dr Martin was speaking at a conference called the International Covid Summit III, held at the European Parliament building in the Brussels.

The summit's stated mission was for "doctors, lawyers and professionals from all over the world to unite and discuss their experiences with COVID-19".

Promotional material for the event prominently displayed the words "European Parliament".

The EU flag is seen in the background of the video and chyrons state "Truth & evidence from the European parliament" and "Covid-19 crime explained by the European Parliment (sic)".

This is misleading.

A European Parliament representative told AAP FactCheck the conference was not a parliamentary event and it had never adopted a position suggesting COVID was a hoax.

An online poster used to promote the event.
Promotional material used online for the event.

"The European Parliament secretariat allocates meeting rooms on the basis of proposals from the political groups," the representative said.

"Members who are not attached to a political group also have the possibility to use EP facilities for their meetings.

"Any consideration of the content is the responsibility of the political groups/individual members who propose them."

Among the co-hosts of the event included Christine Anderson, a German MEP who called the COVID vaccine campaign the biggest crime committed on humanity; Croation MEP Ivan Vilibor Sincic  who has shared false information about COVID vaccines and Croatian MEP Mislav Kolakusic who claims COVID vaccines have killed tens of thousands of Europeans.

Pierre Kory (file image)
Pierre Kory was one of the event's featured speakers.

Featured speakers included a range of people known for spreading COVID misinformation, including:

* Pierre Kory, a medical doctor who made false claims about antiparasitic drug ivermectin and had a paper removed by the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

 * Robert Malone,  a medical doctor and infectious disease researcher known for spreading misinformation about COVID vaccines.

* Ryan Cole, a pathologist who has made unsupported claims about COVID vaccines and faced disciplinary action for making "numerous false and misleading statements" during the pandemic.

* Byram Bridle, a viral immunologist whose claims COVID vaccines are toxic have been shown to be misleading and rejected by other scientists and researchers.

* Christian Perronne, an infectious diseases professor who claims COVID vaccines are ineffective. Social media users have falsely claimed he's a former vice president of the World Health Organization.

A European Parliament representative told AAP FactCheck it was not an official event and the European Union's legislative body does not support its views.

False – The claim is inaccurate.

AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Sources

  1. European Parliament

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en
  2. Brussels

    https://www.britannica.com/place/Brussels
  3. European Union legislative body's

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/home
  4. here

    https://www-media.aap.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/14123125/eu.png
  5. plenary session

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/plenary/en/home.html
  6. David Martin

    https://www.davidmartin.world/
  7. financial analyst

    https://www.davidmartin.world/about/
  8. medical doctor

    https://www.m-cam.com/about-us/
  9. here

    https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-vaccine-idUSKBN2AM0SS
  10. here

    https://www.factcheck.org/2020/08/new-plandemic-video-peddles-misinformation-conspiracies/
  11. here

    https://www.poynter.org/?ifcn_misinformation=david-martin-testified-in-germany-indicating-the-sars-cov-2-virus-originated-from-the-usa-based-on-the-evidence-of-a-us-owned-coronavirus-patent
  12. debunked

    https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/years-of-vaccine-research-data-ignored-in-coronavirus-rant/
  13. European Parliament building

    https://www.visit.brussels/en/visitors/venue-details.European-Parliament.235087
  14. stated mission

    https://www.internationalcovidsummit.com/mission
  15. prominently displayed

    https://www-media.aap.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/22105107/VaxxSummit.png
  16. EU flag

    https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/symbols/european-flag_en
  17. chyrons

    https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/chyron
  18. secretariat

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-parliament/en/organisation-and-rules/secretariat
  19. Christine Anderson

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197475/CHRISTINE_ANDERSON/home
  20. the biggest crime committed on humanity

    https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/video-german-mp-christine-anderson-the-biggest-crime-ever-committed-on-humanity/
  21. Ivan Vilibor Sincic

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197935/IVAN+VILIBOR_SINCIC/home
  22. shared false information about COVID vaccines

    https://bird.tools/live_updates/croatian-mep-shares-false-information-about-covid-19-and-vaccines-on-fb/
  23. Mislav Kolakusic

    https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197438/MISLAV_KOLAKUSIC/home
  24. tens of thousands of Europeans

    https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-eu-idUSL1N2UJ0SH
  25. Pierre Kory

    https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1036380/overview
  26. made false claims about antiparasitic drug ivermectin

    https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9768999400
  27. had a paper removed

    https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/frontiers-removes-controversial-ivermectin-paper-pre-publication-68505
  28. Frontiers in Pharmacology

    https://blog.frontiersin.org/2021/03/02/2-march-2021-media-statement/
  29. Robert Malone

    https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/08/robert-malone-vaccine-inventor-vaccine-skeptic/619734/
  30. medical doctor

    https://healthfeedback.org/authors/robert-malone/
  31. spreading misinformation about COVID vaccines

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/01/24/robert-malone-vaccine-misinformation-rogan-mandates/
  32. Ryan Cole

    https://independentdocsid.com/ryan-cole-md/
  33. unsupported claims

    https://healthfeedback.org/authors/ryan-cole/
  34. faced disciplinary action

    https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/102702
  35. Byram Bridle

    https://ovc.uoguelph.ca/pathobiology/people/faculty/Byram-W-Bridle
  36. shown to be misleading

    https://healthfeedback.org/authors/byram-bridle/
  37. rejected by other scientists and researchers

    https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-canada-technology-gun-politics-religion-a7dd90823ca346534f1087ba0b1071b1
  38. Christian Perronne

    https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/142834/bio
  39. have falsely claimed

    https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-who-idUSL1N2U61ZD
  40. World Health Organization

    https://www.who.int/
  41. International Fact-Checking Network

    https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/

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Every AAP FactCheck article is the result of a meticulous process involving numerous experienced journalists and producers. Our articles are thoroughly researched, carefully crafted and rigorously scrutinised to ensure the highest standard of accuracy and objectivity in every piece.

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