Interior Minister
Espionage, disinformation, lies: Faeser sees a “new dimension of threats” from Russia
Nancy Faeser sees a great danger from Russian influence
© Frederic Kern / Future Image / Action Press
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees Russian hybrid warfare as a growing danger for Germany. Faeser is placing a main focus on protecting elections and has announced a new unit in her ministry.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) sees Germany as being significantly threatened by aggressive behavior by the Russian government. “We are actually experiencing a new dimension of threats from Russian aggression,” said Faeser to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ, Monday edition). “We see attempts to exert influence through lies, through massive ones Disinformation. But espionage is also at least as active,” said Faeser.
Nancy Faeser sees a strong threat from Russia
Russia also wants to “destabilize the West with migration,” for which people would be “brutally exploited,” said Faeser. This is what Finland is currently seeing on its border with Russia. However, the state is not defenseless against this. Faeser referred to the EU’s actions in response to the migration crisis on the border between Belarus and Poland in 2021, when the EU was able to contain the government’s actions in Minsk through unified action.
Faeser also told the “SZ” that the federal government would strengthen its defense against Russia’s influence in Western Europe in the coming years. “It is particularly important to protect the elections,” said Faeser. “We must ensure that there are no hacker attacks on election authorities or on the transmission of election results.”
A new early detection unit against fake news in the Interior Ministry should expose lies before they “become a big wave and flood the internet,” said Faeser. To do this, she wants to increase the use of artificial intelligence.