Expect more fake news from Russia

A newspaper vendor arranges newspapers showing front pages.

A newspaper vendor arranges newspapers showing front pages.

Published Feb 18, 2017

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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, told Reuters in an interview, citing

conversations with the German and Lithuanian defence ministers.

"Russia is not pleased by the deployment of NATO troops

closer to its border so it will likely use legal means, such as

propaganda and they will try to influence public opinion against

the deployments," Pavel said.

"It will get stronger ... but we will be transparent,

consistent."

Russia has not responded 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.

Last week Russia denied meddling in campaigning for April

and May's presidential election in France.

"Potential splillover"

Worried since Russia's 2014 seizure of Ukraine's Crimea that

Moscow could invade Poland or the Baltic states, NATO is

bolstering its eastern flank with troops, war games and

warehoused US equipment ready for a rapid response force of up

to 40 000 personnel.

The first German troops have arrived in Lithuania, where

Berlin is leading a battalion of some 1 000 troops. From around

April, Britain will head the deterrent force in Estonia, while

Canada is deploying in Latvia and US troops are arriving in

Poland and across the Baltics.

Russia says the alliance build-up threatens the stability of

central Europe. It has some 330 000 troops amassed in its

Western military district around Moscow, NATO believes.

Pavel said the Western military alliance NATO has ways,

known in military parlance as strategic communication, to

counter Russian disinformation and he did not expect Moscow to

be able to generate popular protests against the deployments.

"The population in these countries are rightly afraid of a

continuation of these events, a potential spillover into their

countries. They have been asking for years for some kind of

visible reassurance," Pavel said, referring to Crimea.

NATO will also reassure Moscow directly that the eastern

deterrent is a measured response to Crimea and what NATO says is

Russia's direct support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Pavel said contact between NATO's top commanders and their

Russian counterparts could restart in the next few weeks with a

telephone call with the chief of the Russian General Staff

Valery Gerasimov.

Pavel said that could follow with a face-to-face meeting.

US General Joseph Dunford, the top US military officer,

met Gerasimov in Azerbaijan this week.

US Vice President Mike Pence sought on Saturday to assure

Europe that Washington would back NATO, but told allies they

must pay their fair share to support the alliance.

REUTERS

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