Russia is conducting a disinformation campaign aimed at supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), undermining the country's main political parties and sowing economic anxiety ahead of the February 23 elections, the German research institute CeMAS reported, quoted by "Reuters".
According to the CeMAS report, hundreds of German-language publications on the X platform (formerly Twitter) have been tracked in the past month, showing typical characteristics of the "Doppelganger" disinformation campaign organized by Russia. This campaign, created after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, aims to undermine Western support for Kiev by spreading links to fake Western news sites and disinformation, a report by the German Foreign Ministry said.
The posts blame the Green Party for Germany's economic problems, criticize Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his support for Ukraine, and undermine the credibility of the conservatives, but express support for the AfD.
The posts spread links to fake German news sites or authentic media with distorted context, as well as images supporting their narrative. They received more than 2.8 million views through networks of fake accounts.
According to the latest INSA survey, the conservatives are leading with 29%, while the AfD is on 21% - double their result in 2021. Chancellor Scholz's Social Democrats are 16% behind, while the Greens have 13%. Increased support for the AfD could make it harder to form a coalition and complicate governance if the party manages to block key decisions.
In December, X owner Elon Musk openly expressed support for the AfD, and this month he also held a conversation with the party's candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, on his platform.
The German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) has set up a task force to counter attempts at external interference in the elections. According to the BfV, Russia is displaying "aggressive behavior" towards Germany and other allies of Ukraine because of their support for Kiev.