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EU Report Says Germany Is Leading Target Of Russian Disinformation

Updated

Stories spread by Russian disinformation debunked in the EUvsDisinfo database (file photo)
Stories spread by Russian disinformation debunked in the EUvsDisinfo database (file photo)

Russia has targeted Germany more than any other country in the European Union in its disinformation efforts, a new report by the 27-member bloc shows.

"No other EU member state is being attacked more violently than Germany," says the report published on March 9 by the EU diplomatic service in Brussels.

The report says "systematic campaigns" have been launched at the political level and through media close to the Kremlin.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova rejected the claims as "ridiculous

The report comes as the United States has accused Russia of a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to undermine faith in U.S.- and Western-developed coronavirus vaccines.

The EU says that since late 2015, more than 700 cases have been collected on Germany in the EUvsDisinfo database.

France was the target more than 300 times, with Italy around 170 times, it adds.

"The Kremlin creates an intellectual image of Germany in which there are a few sensible voices in a chorus of irrational 'Russophobia'" the report says.

Describing the findings of the report as "not surprising," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that developing ties between civil society in Germany and Russia would help make false information about his country fell on deaf ears.

Based on reporting by dpa

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