Intelligence chief warns of foreign interference in German coalition talks

A senior German intelligence official has warned that foreign powers, including Russia, could try to shape the outcome of talks by German parties to form a governing coalition, following last week’s national elections. The elections resulted in a major shakeup of Germany’s political landscape, as Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union lost nearly 10 percentage points compared to its 2013 election result. It is now forced to seek the participation of other conservative or centrist political parties in a broad governing alliance. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 12.6 percent, propelling it to third place and giving it 91 seats in the Bundestag. The AfD result marks the first time since 1945 that a German far-right party has managed to secure parliamentary representation.

On Thursday, senior intelligence official Burkhard Even said that, unlike France and the United States, Germany was spared major foreign interference during its recent election period. Speaking at a security conference in Berlin, Even, who is director of counterintelligence at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said interference attempts were limited in both volume and impact. He described them as “low-level propaganda” operations conducted mainly by Russian media, which “did not have a significant impact on voters” and did not affect “the election outcome as a whole”. However, the official added that such attempts were possible in the post-election period. For instance, there could be efforts by foreign intelligence agencies to discredit certain government officials or political figures, said Even. Alternatively, methods of propaganda could be employed by a foreign power “to affect the forging of a new government”, he added, referring to the ongoing talks between German political parties to enter into a governing coalition. “The risks are enormous”, said Even, and “they are not diminishing”.

The far-right AfD campaigned in favor of ending Muslim immigration to Germany and expelling most non-Western immigrants from the country. The party has also called for a tighter relationship between Berlin and Moscow and opposes Germany’s decision to impose economic sanctions on Russia in response to its alleged intervention in Crimea. Some have suggested that the Russian intelligence services launched a secret campaign to gather voter support for the AfD in the run-up to last week’s elections.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 29 September 2017 | Permalink