Expect more fake news from Russia: Nato official

MUNICH: Russia was behind a false report of a rape by German soldiers in Lithuania that was intended to undermine support for Nato’s new eastern force, a senior Nato general said on Saturday, warning Europe to expect more such “fake news”. Petr Pavel, who heads Nato’s military committee, said he also hoped to hold the first telephone call in more than two years with Russia’s military chiefs in coming weeks.

There he will outline why Nato believes its biggest military build-up since the end of the Cold War is not a threat to the Kremlin.

Pavel, a Czech army general, said a claim that German-speaking men raped a 15-year-old girl last week in a Lithuanian town close to a German army barracks “was not based on real events”. An email making the claim was sent to the speaker of Lithuanian’s parliament on Tuesday.

“It is clearly fake news and I believe we should expect more of this,” Pavel said.

Estonia’s Foreign Minister Sven Mikser also blamed Russia and said he expected more “hostile propaganda” over the troop presence.

Pavel said Russia was “not pleased” by the deployment of Nato troops closer to its border.

“It will likely use legal means, such as propaganda and they will try to influence public opinion against the deployments,” he said.”It will get stronger... but we will be transparent, consistent.”

Russia’s foreign ministry did not respond to Nato’s assertion that it was behind the email to the Lithuanian parliament, as evidence for which Pavel cited Nato intelligence work that monitors suspicious activity and disinformation.

European intelligence agencies have said Moscow is also seeking to destabilize governments and influence elections with cyber attacks and fake news.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would like to discuss the issue with Russia, but it was questionable whether the problem could be successfully addressed before European elections this year.