In 2017 Russia may try to manipulate German public opinion in order to influence parliamentary elections, said in an interview with Reuters Maassen, who heads the Federal service for the protection of the Constitution (BfV).
According to Maasen, there may be a story similar to the story “girls Lisa” that occurred in 2016. Then broadcast “First channel” was a plot, which focuses on 13-year-old “girl Lisa”, allegedly abducted and raped by migrants with “middle Eastern appearance”. The information was later denied by Berlin police.
“This could happen again next year and we are concerned about it,” said Maassen. According to him, the German authorities had the impression that the manipulation of the election on the part of Russia can become “part of hybrid threat, which aims to influence public opinion and decision-making process”.
Maassen stressed the need to publicly expose any campaign in media like the story of the “girl Lisa”. “When people understand that information is not true, the lie loses its effectiveness,” says Maassen.
During the election campaign in the US, Russia accused of meddling in the election process. In particular, in the joint statement of the Ministry of homeland security and office of the Director of national intelligence in October said that the Russian government can authorize hacking hackers email the leadership of the Democratic party for that. To affect the election results. Russia, these accusations are categorically rejected.
