FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Dancers Performing At A NATO Event?

A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows two women performing a dance routine in front of a panel at a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) event.
Verdict: False

The footage was taken during a 2017 event at the University of Ghent. The event was not affiliated with NATO.

Fact Check:

The Facebook video, viewed over 2,100 times, appears to show two women dancing in front of a crowd as a panel looks on. “Meanwhile….. they are taking serious decisions at Nato,” the post’s caption reads, though it does not clarify when or where the video was taken.

The video is not related to any NATO event. A reverse image search reveals the same footage was uploaded to YouTube in 2017 with the title “Leftist science at Ghent University [Belgium].” The University of Ghent logo and name are visible on the podium, alongside the European Union and Belgian flag.

“The event took place at Ghent University (Aula Academica), but no, it had nothing to do with NATO,” Stephanie Lenoir, a spokesperson for the University of Ghent, told Check Your Fact in an email when asked about the footage. (RELATED: Did A Pentagon Spokesperson Demand Lithuania Be Expelled From NATO?)

Lenoir added that “the performance was part of the ceremony for the opening of the academic year in 2017. It was an artistic intermezzo by the theatre company and performance group Action Zoo Humain.”

She directed Check Your Fact to images of the performance on the University of Ghent’s website. The group of images, titled “Opening academic year 2017/2018 with transfer of recorship (296 photos),” show the same dancers visible in the video. The group identifies itself as a “theatre company & performance group” on its website. The images make no mention of NATO and Check Your Fact found no credible news reporting to suggest members of the organization attended the 2017 ceremony.

Check Your Fact reached out to NATO and will update this article if a response is provided.

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