The Kremlin’s hybrid operations through shell companies in Europe that moved capital
According to a State Department cable signed by Anthony Blinken, which cites American intelligence documents just declassified by the specific will of Joe Biden – and whose contents have been reported, for now only in outline, to a group of international journalists by of a senior US administration official in office – since 2014 Russia has transferred more than $ 300 million to foreign political parties, officials and politicians in more than two dozen countries around the world. The foreign countries and politicians involved in this gigantic operation of influence have not yet been disclosed. Gigantic because, according to Western sources consulted by The print, the 300 million are only those of which there is documentary certainty, that is some type of tangible confirmation already identified. “But we think it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” say the Americans.
According to La Stampa, the Russian covert operation certainly involved the recent elections in Bosnia, Montenegro and Albania. But also think tanks and shell companies that acted as a front for the Russians in Europe. And state-owned enterprises in Central America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. A hybrid threat mostly exerted through propagandists infiltrating the TVs and think tanks of European countries, and environmental corruption.
The big question now is: did anyone in Italy take this money? “The United States will provide the countries involved with classified information about those politicians who appear to have been funded,” American sources explain. If there were information regarding Italy, the first notified would be the Department for Information and Security, and obviously the Prime Minister himself.
Enrico Letta last night asked for an immediate convocation of Copasir, and for the government to give all the information it has (we do not think only of parties and politicians, let’s repeat it, but also of think tanks and magazines, two traditional interposition tools used by the services Russians to get money into Italy). Guido Crosetto, the man who follows many dossiers on national security for Giorgia Meloni, comments on the news of millionaire loans from Russia: «It doesn’t surprise me because there was an ancient tradition on their part. But I would like to know the names, if any, of any Italian beneficiaries. Because it is high treason ». Salvini asks “names be given”, and swears “never asked for or received money from Moscow”.
In recent years there have been many controversies over dangerous relations or negotiations – political and not only – of Italian political worlds with the Russians. The magazines and sites, especially populist and sovereign, that have carried out pro-Kremlin propaganda are endless. A Salvini adviser negotiated a gas resale at the Metropol hotel with the provision of alleged funding to the Lega (69 million) by the oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, a matter on which a difficult investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office is still open (the Lega denies that the thing ever went through) with the hypothesis of international corruption. The League signed a political agreement with Putin’s emissary, Sergey Zeleznyak, which also included “exchanges of information”. The same political agreement, in the same two months, was negotiated by the M5S with Alessandro Di Battista, the 5 Stars only at the end did not sign it, after the case had been revealed by La Stampa. Twice after 2014, 5 Star parliamentary delegations went to Crimea to support the pro-Russian annexationist position against Ukraine. Grillo was a privileged guest on RT, now banned in Europe. M5S leader Giuseppe Conte was at the center of strong controversy in March 2020, for having granted a parade of Russian military and intelligence vehicles and generals in Italy, which the Russians presented as an “aid mission”. While in July the case of contacts between an emissary of Salvini and men of the Russian embassy who asked him – two months before the fall of Draghi – exploded if the Northern League were “oriented to withdraw the ministers from the government”.
Of course, nothing prevents all these pro-Kremlin positions being taken in Italy for free and without compensation. And for now we do not know if anything of these 300 million, and how much and to whom, has arrived in Italy. But the American official warns: «We are warning these foreign parties and candidates that if they accept Russian money in secret, we can expose them and we will. Putin has spent large sums in an attempt to manipulate democracies from within ». The cable does not only mention the past, but the short-term future threat: Russia plans to transfer “at least another hundreds of millions of dollars” to finance sympathetic parties and officials around the world.
Unlimited access to all site content
€ 1 / month for 3 months, then € 3.99 / month for 3 months
Unlock unlimited access to all content on the site
#tip #iceberg #network #tanks #foundations