Description: The German far – right political party AfD saw a significant increase in popularity after an alleged Russian disinformation campaign was identified to have taken place through several fake German news outlets. Germany’s domestic intelligence agency BfV has established a taskforce which aimed to tackle Russian media disinformation campaigns. The X social network was mostly leveraged especially since Alice Weidel, AfD’s political leader was endorsed by X’ owner Elon Musk. The bulk of the disinformation came from marketing outlets based in Russia and has significantly depleted the political popularity of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Social Democrats.
Impact: Russian hybrid warfare has substantially increased in light of European countries support for Ukraine’s war efforts. Mass media manipulation and discrediting of political opponents could compromise Europe’s efforts in repelling Russia in their war campaign if adequate counter – measures aren’t timely incorporated within higher levels of government and security services. Germany, as Europe’s leading security and economy force, should initiate intelligence cooperation on a higher level between EU and NATO members while Russia would surely escalate further disinformation campaigns and other forms of hybrid threats in the upcoming period.