Danish authorities estimate that foreign states can try to create discord and influence the public debate during the general election via influence activities.
The ongoing parliamentary elections may be exposed to attempts to influence foreign states.
This appears from a threat assessment prepared by the Police Intelligence Service (PET), the Defense Intelligence Service (FE) and the Agency for Community Security (SAMSIK) in Denmark.
According to the assessment, the threat of influence comes primarily from Russia due to Denmark’s involvement in the Ukraine war, but the threat can also come from other state actors.
– The influencing activities may aim to create discord, influence the public debate or be targeted at specific candidates, parties or political agendas, writes PET.
The USA and Greenland are mentioned
The threat assessment specifically mentions that the USA’s stated desire to take ownership of Greenland has led to the spread of misinformation and disinformation regarding the Kingdom of Denmark, which may create uncertainty in connection with the upcoming general election:
– The USA’s focus on the Kingdom has also created new international lines of conflict, which foreign states such as Russia and China can use it for influencing purposes, the assessment further states.
Influence can come from the MAGA environment
In the assessment, emphasis is placed on the fact that the USA wants a different direction for the political development in Europe, and this can be expressed in activities from American authorities that can have a knock-on effect on the debate in Denmark:
– Any US attempts to influence the public debate in Europe may come from many different actors without formal ties to the US administration. This applies, among other things, to private individuals or networks around the MAGA environment, the authorities write.
Probably with attack from Russia
According to the threat assessment, it is very likely that Denmark is an independent, prioritized target for Russian influence activities such as disinformation, i.e. deliberate dissemination of false or distorted messages, minor cyber-attacks, such as overload attacks, as well as threats of serious cyber-attacks.
On February 20, a cyber attack took place in Greenland. Here, the authorities reported a so-called DDoS attack against several websites in Greenland, and a Russian hacker group took responsibility for the attack.
Sermitsiaq has asked PET if it is possible to get further comments on the situation surrounding the elections in Greenland, but PET refers to the published assessment.
