Russia Hacking France, Germany Elections? Minister Blasts Reports Of Interference

Russia’s top diplomat blasted accusations that his country had interfered in the elections of any Western European powers while speaking at the Military Academy of Russia’s General Staff, Tass News Agency reported.

"I find these publications (about alleged Russian interference in Germany and France’s upcoming elections) in the EU countries really stunning," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday. "They are utterly far-fetched and, what is still worse, silly and poorly written pieces - articles and reports - about our alleged total influence on electoral processes."

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The report did not indicate any specific articles or publications Lavrov had referred to, but his response may have been prompted by the widely covered testimony given Monday by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey and National Security Agency director Michael S. Rogers before the House Intelligence Committee.

During the hearing, Comey admitted the FBI was investigating potential ties between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia leading up to last year’s election. He and Rogers each stated they believed Russia would continue their alleged interference in future U.S. elections.

In particular, Rogers stated: “I fully expect they will maintain this level of activity,” according to the Washington Post. He added the Kremlin was using “active measures” in Europe, as France prepared for elections in April and Germany in September.

Lavrov's comments were similar to the consistent denials by Moscow over accusations it had conspired to disrupt the U.S. election in favor of Trump, who has equally denied any ties to Russia and previously said he did not believe the Russians had hacked the election despite U.S. intelligence services concluding otherwise.

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The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report in January on Russia’s hacking efforts, and wrote: "Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future efforts worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes."