National Security Council warns of possible foreign interference in the upcoming elections
The Belgian Federal Government and the National Security Council fear that countries such as Russia will try to influence the forthcoming elections here in Belgium. The concerns about possible foreign interference in the elections were expressed by the National Security Council at a press conference on Wednesday.
The spreading of fake news and inflammatory posts on social media are the methods most frequently used. The Federal Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden (Christian democrat) told journalists that "The question is not if it will happen, but when and how". The Belgian intelligence service will therefore step up its monitoring of social media this kind of activity is most prevalent.
As the seat of many international institutions such as the European Union and NATO, Belgium is an interesting target for influence campaigns by foreign powers. The Belgian security services have Russia in particular in their sights as regards this. The use of so-called internet trolls has long been a tried and tested tactic used by the Kremlin.
In September 2023, for example, there was a demonstration in Brussels against EVRAS, the new sex education curriculum in French-medium schools. Here the Belgian security services noticed that foreign accounts on social media were beginning to fuel the disquiet. “Decadent Western values” was a term much used by the trolls.
The Belgian security services fear that such tactics will be used again during the forthcoming election campaign. By spreading untruths and fueling unrest it is feared that countries such as, not only Russia, but also Iran and China, could attempt to influence the result of the June 9 elections.
Politicians should be on their guard
In addition to the warning about possible foreign influence campaigns, the National Security Council calls on politicians to beware of hacking and espionage. Not every politician is as vigilant as they might be when it comes to cyber security. Hence the call for the use of two-step verification, strong passwords, ect.
The Federal Government has also invested in secure mobile phones to protect ministers, advisors and top civil servants from eavesdroppers. This decision wasn’t taken out of the blue. Recently a conversation between high-ranking military officials in Germany concern the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine was intercepted and a transcript posted on the internet.
Whether all this actually affects our voting behaviour is hard to say and difficult to prove. What is clear though is that an information war is raging on social media and that it is far more intense than was case in the run-up to the elections in 2019.