Russia has quietly sent at least $300 million to political parties and candidates in more than 20 countries since 2014 in an attempt to influence elections there, according to a US intelligence estimate released Tuesday.
The United States “believes that these are minimum estimates, and that Russia probably secretly transferred more funds that were not detected,” a senior US official said.
“We think this is just the tip of the iceberg,” he told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Albania, Madagascar, Bosnia…
US intelligence did not specify the names of the countries involved. But, according to a source familiar with the matter in the Biden administration, Russia spent about $500,000 to support a center-right Democratic Party of Albania candidate in the 2017 election.
Moscow would also have financed parties or candidates in Montenegro, Bosnia or Madagascar, according to this same source.
This person, who was not authorized to speak officially, said that Moscow used Brussels as a hub from which many foundations and structures supported far-right candidates. The Russian embassy in Ecuador also received “large sums” of money between 2014 and 2017, apparently with the aim of influencing the election outcome, the source added.
The Trump campaign?
Russia’s alleged interference in foreign elections “is also an attack on sovereignty,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
“This is an attempt to erode the ability of people around the world to choose the governments they feel are best suited to represent them,” he added.
This new assessment did not look at Russian interference in US politics. But US intelligence services have previously accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 US election, including using social media to support Donald Trump, who has expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States is “working hard to address (its) weaknesses” and encourages “other countries to do the same and join (them) in this important effort,” the official said.
Source: BFM TV
