– We have reported to foreign political parties and candidates that if they accept Russian money and keep it secret, we can and will uncover it. This is what a top figure in the Biden administration told Reuters on Tuesday evening, on the condition that the person concerned remains anonymous. The recipients of the Russian money transactions will be parties, top leaders and politicians in more than 20 countries. Some of the payments are said to have already taken place in 2014. The estimate of NOK 3 billion is the minimum, and not the ceiling, they claim, as the country has probably made several in secret. The information that has been made public is only part of the report. American diplomats are said to have shared additional information with more than 100 countries, according to AFP. The purpose should be to inform these countries about how they can counter Russian influence attempts. Several million for a candidate in Asia One of the examples given in the report concerns a presidential candidate in an Asian country who has not been named, writes AFP further. The person concerned is said to have received several tens of millions of kroner from the Russian ambassador in the country. The investigation is not supposed to have looked at American politics, but American authorities believe that a number of Russian citizens are tempted to influence the election in 2016. The United States owes Russia interference in the presidential election in 2016, Photo: LUCAS JACKSON / Reuters The United States expects new computer attacks, the spread of misinformation and propaganda on social media before the mid-term elections in 2022. In April, more than half of Americans answered a poll reported by Reuters that they feared Russian interference in the mid-term elections. Other countries fear interference The report reports that Russia has used fake contracts and companies to finance parties, while state-owned companies have secretly sent money to countries in Central America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, writes AFP. Italian intelligence has previously warned that there is a danger of Russian interference in their parliamentary elections on 25 September. A list from e-tenesta’s control body Copasir, which was leaked to Italian media, contained the names of several journalists, influencers and politicians in the country who were suspected of doing business for Russia. Adolfo Urso is the CEO of Copasir. Photo: LO-SAI HUNG / AP – We are vulnerable to external influences, and we know that, among other things, Russia can play badly, said the CEO of Copasir Adolfo Urso in a statement according to SVT. It has not been confirmed whether Italy is one of the 24 countries the US now refers to. It is also not revealed how much of the three billion has been spent in Ukraine, even though President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has long claimed that the Russian president has interfered in Ukrainian politics.
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Russia claims to have transferred around NOK 3 billion to foreign politicians and parties
