Germany alarmed about potential Russian interference in election: spy chief

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS | Wed Nov 16, 2016 | 9:21am EST

Germany alarmed about potential Russian interference in election: spy chief

By Andreas Rinke and Andrea Shalal | BERLIN

Germany is alarmed that Russia may seek to interfere in its national elections next year, the domestic intelligence chief said, echoing concerns raised in the United States before Donald Trump's presidential election victory.

German officials have accused Moscow of trying to manipulate German media to fan popular angst over issues like the migrant crisis, weaken voter trust in moderate mainstream government under Chancellor Angela Merkel and breed divisions within the European Union so that it drops sanctions against Moscow.

Intelligence officials have also pointed to Russian support for eurosceptic, anti-immigrant parties in Germany and across the EU. Last week, Merkel said she could not rule out Russia interfering in Germany's 2017 election through Internet attacks and misinformation campaigns.

Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the domestic BfV intelligence agency, cited the high-profile case last year of a German-Russian girl who Russian media said was kidnapped and raped by migrants in Berlin, a claim later refuted by German authorities.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-election-russia-idUSKBN13B14O

[lonestarnot]

1. Do you suppose idjits that did vote for yammering yam are ever going to see how badly they've been

hoodwinked? Then there is the majority of us in US that didn't fall or fail. We can try to point it out. Put the finger on it, but democracy, the grand experiment, bullshit. The yammering yam stopped paying his taxes years ago. He never bought into what democracy was hawking.