The recent discord between United States and Russia spurred by Kremlin-blamed cyberattacks is being emulated abroad after Germany’s top intelligence official this week suggested Moscow may similarly interfere with his nation’s general election next year.
Bruno Kahl, the head of BND, Germany’s federal intelligence service, said in an interview Tuesday that Russia may be setting its sights on the 2017 German election after being attributed with a series of cyberattacks, email leaks and online disinformation campaigns waged during the run-up to the recent White House race.
Speaking to Munich’s Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Mr. Kahl said he believes a Russian connection exists between the internet campaign waged prior to the U.S. presidential election and similar efforts emerging now in Europe.
“We have evidence of cyberattacks that have no other purpose than triggering political uncertainty,” Mr. Kahl told the newspaper. “The perpetrators are interested in de-legitimizing the democratic process as such, no matter who that subsequently helps.
“These attempts to interfere focus on Europe, and on Germany especially,” he added. “A kind of pressure is being exercised on public discourse and democracy here, which is unacceptable.”
The Kremlin responded Wednesday in the form of a rebuttal from Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s official spokesman, in which he accused Germany of launching hacking campaigns of its own against Russia.
“We expect cyberattacks during every signal Russian election,” Mr. Peskov replied. “These cyberattacks happen, and believe me, among those thousands and tens of thousands of cyberattacks, some are carried out by people within Germany’s borders, as well as in other European countries.”
Mr. Peskov’s response nearly mirrors the explanation he offered in October after the Obama administration formally announced that it was confident the Kremlin had directed computer intrusions and emails leaks endured by the Democratic Party during the run-up to the Nov. 8 White House race.
“Every day, Putin’s site gets attacked by tens of thousands of hackers. Many of these attacks can be traced to U.S. territory. It’s not as though we accuse the White House or Langley of doing it each time it happens,” Mr. Peskov responded then, referring to the Northern Virginia community that houses CIA headquarters.
While the White House waited a month until Election Day to accuse Russia of meddling, however, Mr. Kahl’s allegations this week are hardly the first to emerge with roughly a year before the German voters cast their ballots. Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that responding to interference allegedly being conducted by Russia had already become “a daily task.”
“We are already, even now, having to deal with information out of Russia or with internet attacks that are of Russian origin or with news which sows false information,” Ms. Merkel said during recent news conference in Berlin. “So it may be that this could also play a role during the election campaign.”
Mr. Kahl’s remarks were published this week in the wake of a cyberattack Monday causing hundred of thousands of German telecom customers to lose access to the internet. German officials have not identified any suspects sought in connection with the cyberattack, but the perpetrators are believed to have caused the disruptions by using a method similar to a tactic that caused widespread connectivity problems across the United States and North American last month.
Moscow has denied hacking the Democratic National Committee and other political targets compromised in recent months during the course of a campaign widely believed to be directed by the Kremlin. Democrat and Republican lawmakers have since called on Congress to investigate Russia’s purported role in meddling with the 2016 White House race.
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