USA, Moldova, Georgia Why Putin is interfering in numerous elections around the world
Moldova is facing a run-off election, Georgia is facing a national crisis and the USA is facing a historic presidential election. What all these votes have in common is that Vladimir Putin's Russia is behind them.
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- Georgia's president calls for demonstrations today at 4 p.m. due to electoral fraud.
- The Kremlin as the driving force: this is how the vote was manipulated.
- Moscow is also manipulating the US election: the FBI has exposed a video as Russian that is deliberately intended to stir up chaos and anger.
- In Moldova, the Kremlin allegedly invested 39 million dollars to sway the 2.5 million voters in its direction.
"We have become witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation," said Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili yesterday evening in Tbilisi, after the ruling party Georgian Dream, which is loyal to Moscow, claimed to have won almost 54 percent of the vote.
There are reasons why Zurabishvili is inviting people to a demonstration on the capital's main street, Rustaveli Prospekt, at 4 pm CET today: A video documents that the recent vote in Georgia was apparently manipulated in various ways.
The repertoire ranges from threats ...
... to blunt force ...
... and corrupt election officials ...
... to clearly manipulated ballot papers.
"We were robbed of our right to vote in this election," complains President Zurabishvili. "Voting was done the Russian way." As the only remaining independent institution in the country, she cannot recognize the election. "That would be like recognizing a Russian intrusion, Georgia's subjugation to Russia."
Fake video to cause chaos in the USA
Anyone who thinks that the 72-year-old Georgian is making harsh accusations against the Kremlin here needs to take a lesson from the USA: On October 25, the authorities there made it public that Russia is circulating fake videos that threaten the country's social peace.
Specifically, it is about a clip that supposedly shows votes for Donald Trump being destroyed in Bucks County in the swing state of Pennsylvania. However, actors are at work, says the FBI: "Our investigation has determined that the video was fabricated in an attempt to undermine confidence in the upcoming election."
Darren Linvill of Clemson University attributes the clip to the Russian group Storm-1516. "It's typical," the expert tells NBC News. "Undermining the electoral process and sowing doubt about democracy and institutions is central to Russian disinformation. And that's exactly what this video aims to do."
Moldova shows what kind of fight is being waged
Linvill expects to see many more fake news stories like this from Vladimir Putin's troll factories: It is obvious that these could cause an uproar on social networks in particular if the result is close. If Donald Trump loses, for example, such fake news could be the spark that sets his heated supporters on fire.
Georgia and the USA are not isolated cases: Nearby Moldova is also currently showing just how long Moscow's arm is. Although accession to the EU was enshrined in the constitution with a wafer-thin majority of 11,276 votes, the real cardinal question has not yet been decided: Who will be president?
The pro-European incumbent is the favorite going into the run-off election on 3 November: Maia Sandu won 42.45 percent of the vote in the first round. Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo, her opponent from the pro-Russian Socialist Party, received 25.98 percent. Putin invested a lot of money to ensure that Sandu did not get through.
39 million dollars to influence 2.5 million
According to Moldovan media, Moscow spent 39 million dollars on the election in the country of 2.5 million inhabitants. It is alleged that 130,000 voters were bribed directly with 15 million dollars and received specific voting instructions via Telegram. The Moldovan police are now allegedly investigating 340 such cases.
However, it is unlikely that the authorities in Georgia, with its 3.7 million inhabitants, will take similar action. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is also the chairman of the pro-Kremlin Georgian Dream party. It was founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has close ties to Russian oligarchs.
What Moldova and Georgia have in common: Russia occupies part of their respective territories. In Moldova, Moscow plays the protective power of the breakaway region of Transnistria. In Georgia, the Kremlin has occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the Caucasus War in 2008.
What is the point?
What does Vladimir Putin want to achieve by influencing elections? In Moldova and Georgia, the territorial claims are clear: a pro-Russian government should put up as little resistance as possible so that Moscow can annex the occupied territories in these countries.
While Abkhazia is located just 5.5 kilometers from the Russian Black Sea metropolis of Sochi and offers space for naval bases on the coast, South Ossetia and Transnistria in Moldova are levers that Moscow can use to exert pressure on Tbilisi and Chisinau.
The "protection" of the population living there can always be used as a casus belli if the respective government fails to act. At the same time, the Kremlin is now accusing the West of manipulating the elections in Georgia and Moldova - but without giving any details.
The aim of influencing the US elections is to create chaos in the country: If Kamala Harris wins, Trump supporters are to be led to believe that they have been cheated. The Americans should be as preoccupied as possible with themselves so as not to hinder Russia in Ukraine. If Donald Trump wins, Putin will also have won, according to the Kremlin's calculations.
In Georgia, Moscow seems to be on the right track, provided the protests go unheard. Viktor Orban, who is considered a friend of Putin, has not only congratulated the supposed election winner Georgian Dream. The current EU Council President is also flying to Tbilisi today. That fits.