Gunther Fehlinger holds no NATO position as claimed by some media, social media reports
Several media outlets recently published reports claiming that NATO’s Austria Division Chairman Gunther Fehlinger said India is no longer needed, and that he rather wants free trade with Bangladesh. The claim also spread through social media posts. But Dismislab’s verification shows Fehlinger is not a NATO official. Also, Austria is not a NATO country, and there is no institution named “NATO Austria Division” . Fehlinger is actually an activist advocating for NATO expansion. On social media, he introduced himself as chairman of the “Austrian Committee for NATO Enlargement”. But this is not a recognized institution, rather a personal initiative run by him.
On September 7, Bangladeshi media ‘Ekattor TV’ published a report titled “We don’t need India, we want a free trade deal with Bangladesh: Gunther.” The report said, “Gunther Fehlinger, chairman of NATO Austria Division, called for a free trade deal with Bangladesh. He shared this opinion in a post on social media platform X.”
The report further said, “Earlier, this influential NATO leader presented a new map of India, naming and flagging different states of India separately, to the world. That map sparked discussion and criticism in different countries. At a time when India–US relations remain at the lowest point, such a position by this important NATO leader puts India in further embarrassment.”
Ekattor TV also published a photocard on its verified Facebook page the same day, titled “We don’t need India, we want a free trade deal with Bangladesh: Gunther.” Later, multiple Facebook posts (1, 2, 3) shared this claim, quoting Ekattor TV. Alongside Ekattor TV, Facebook pages of online news outlets like ‘bdmorning.com’, ‘Durbin News ’ and ‘Alvee’s World’ also spread the photocards. Several posts (1, 2, 3) attached the screenshot of the tweet as the source of the news.
In a keyword search, Dismislab identified the post published on September 5 from the verified X handle named ‘Gunter Fehlinger’. The bio of this account named ‘Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn’ claims he is the “Chairman of the Austrian Committee for NATO Enlargement.”
When Dismislab searched for Gunther’s name and details, it found a 2023 fact-check report by Reuters. At that time, Gunther claimed himself as chairman of the “European Committee for NATO Enlargement.” Reuters reported that Gunther Fehlinger has no institutional connection with NATO. He is only connected with a group in favor of adding new countries to NATO. In fact, NATO issued a statement to the media confirming, “Mr Fehlinger has no official ties with NATO. His views and opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the Alliance.’’ Gunther himself told Reuters in an email, “ I have no relationship with NATO. None of my tweets represent any official position.’’
In 2023, Gunther also wrote in a tweet, “I confess that the European Committee for Nato Enlargement is just me!’’ At that time, Daniele Rizio, press officer of NATO Headquarters’ Public Diplomacy Division, also confirmed to the media that Fehlinger has no official link with NATO.
At the same time, Georgia-based fact-checking organization ‘Myth Detector’ and Armenia-based ‘Fact Investigation Platform’ also stated that Gunther Fehlinger does not hold any position in NATO and, within the alliance structure, no European Committee for NATO Enlargement exists.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a political and military alliance founded in 1949. Its main purpose is collective military defense. Austria is not a NATO member. However, NATO-Austria relations are conducted through the Partnership for Peace (PfP) framework, which Austria joined in 1995. That means Austria is a partner country, but not a member country of NATO.
For context, during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit and his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, several tweets (1, 2, 3, 4) appeared from Gunther Fehlinger’s handle. Among them, on September 5, Gunther Fehlinger posted on his X account a controversial message in which he called for the division of India and shared a map labeled Khalistan. He tweeted, “I call to dismantle India into ExIndia @narendramodi is Russias man We need friend of freedom for @KhalistanNet”.
Reports from several Indian media outlets (1, 2, 3) said India’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology flagged this viral post from Gunther Fehlinger’s handle on legal grounds. They also directed X to block Indian users from accessing this account. The account has since been disabled in India.
Soon after the controversy over his India-related remarks, Gunther made the widely discussed post about Bangladesh. Based on this post, Bangladeshi media published the news that “NATO Austria Division chairman called for a free trade deal with Bangladesh.” Although he had already been criticized for previous controversial posts and flagged by X, Bangladeshi media still reported him as “NATO Austria Division chairman,” quoting this post.
Disclaimer: The original version of this report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on September 8, 2025. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.
