Angela Merkel says she has ‘hard evidence’ Russia are carrying out ‘outrageous’ attempts to hack her
- Merkel told parliament today: ‘Everyday I try to build a better relationship with Russia but there is such hard evidence that Russian forces are doing this’
- Comes after report that Russia’s GRU military intelligence hacked her emails
- 2015 cyber attack was allegedly part of a wider assault on German parliament
Angela Merkel said today she had ‘hard evidence’ that Russia was carrying out ‘outrageous’ attempts to hack her.
The German Chancellor told parliament: ‘I can honestly say that it pains me. Every day I try to build a better relationship with Russia and on the other hand there is such hard evidence that Russian forces are doing this.’
It comes after Der Spiegel magazine reported last week that Russia’s GRU military intelligence wing scraped emails from Merkel’s constituency office in a 2015 cyber attack on the Bundestag.
Merkel said investigations had identified a specific suspect. ‘Unfortunately the conclusion I have reached is that this is not new,’ she said, noting that ‘cyber-disorientation, the distortion of facts’ were all part of ‘Russia’s strategy’.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told parliament: ‘I can honestly say that it pains me. Every day I try to build a better relationship with Russia and on the other hand there is such hard evidence that Russian forces are doing this’
Moscow has denied previous allegations of hacking abroad (pictured: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting on the aviation industry today at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence)
But Merkel added: ‘I will strive for good relations with Russia because I think there is every reason to continue our diplomatic efforts but it doesn’t make it easier.’
Moscow has denied previous allegations of hacking abroad.
Germany’s intelligence service has repeatedly called out attempts by Russian hackers to spy on lawmakers or leading politicians.
Merkel directed similar consternation at Barack Obama’s White House in 2013 when reports emerged that the US National Security Agency had hacked her mobile phone.
Former U. S. President Barack Obama leaves after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany April 5, 2019
She dispatched a team of intelligence officers to Washington and said: ‘The charges are grave and have to be cleared up.’
The German investigation was dropped in 2015 because insufficient evidence could be found for the allegation to stand up court. This was widely perceived as a move to cool transatlantic friction which had built up as a result of the probe.
At the time the White House had said it was not spying on Merkel at present and would not do so in future, however its refusal to say whether it had done so was taken by some as an admission of guilt.