BB.lv: We see a “new scale of threats” from Russia

Europe “is actually experiencing a new scale of threats accompanying Russian aggression” in Ukraine due to the fact that Moscow is helping to deliver illegal migrants to the EU borders. This was stated by the head of the German Ministry of Internal Affairs Nancy Faeser in interview newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, published on Monday, March 25.

Feser said Russia resorts to both espionage and propaganda and the “brutal exploitation” of people from third countries who are brought to the borders of countries such as Finland. The Kremlin’s goal in this case is to destabilize the West, the minister said.

Feser noted that the problem of the spread of disinformation and hacker attacks by the Russian Federation remains acute for Germany, including before the upcoming elections in Germany. According to her, the country is working on a system for quickly detecting manipulative messages and “fakes” using artificial intelligence “before they become a big wave that fills the Internet.”

Feser drew attention to the danger of ISIS

In the same conversation, the minister noted that the activities of militants from one of the cells of the Islamic State – the Vilayat Khorasan group (ISIS-K) – currently pose “the greatest Islamist threat to Germany.

Feser mentioned ISIS-K in the context of the reaction to the terrorist attack that occurred on March 22 at the Crocus City Hall concert hall near Moscow, where several armed men shot visitors and set the building on fire. It was Vilayat Khorasan that took responsibility for what happened, although the Russian authorities are trying to spread the version of a “Ukrainian trace” in the terrorist attack.

According to Feser, the arrests that took place in a number of German cities on New Year’s Eve in connection with the alleged preparation of a terrorist attack on the Cologne Cathedral were related to protection against the actions of ISIS-K.