Chancellor Angela Merkel has told parliament that the latest reports of Russian hacking, also affecting her local constituency office's emails, "certainly do not make it easier" to pursue improved ties with Moscow.
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Angela Merkel was unusually critical of Russia in Germany's parliament on Tuesday when asked about the latest developments in a hacking case dating back to 2015.
German prosecutors have formally named a suspect with known ties to the "Fancy Bear" hacker group that has worked with Russian intelligence services and also established that Merkel's own local constituency office data was compromised. The chancellor subsequently said such efforts damage her diplomatic overtures to the Kremlin.
"I can honestly say, it pains me," Merkel told the Bundestag. "On the one hand, I strive daily for a better relationship with Russia, but then on the other we see that there is solid evidence showing that Russian forces are also involved in such activities. This really does add tension to our work towards and our desire for better relations with Russia. It's also an issue I can't quite dismiss internally, I find it quite uncomfortable."
Merkel said she did not have concrete information on what might have been taken or for what purpose but had the impression that material had been swiped "relatively haphazardly, based on what they could get."
The chancellor said she was taking the report published in magazine Der Spiegel on Friday "very seriously" and believed that it had been "thoroughly researched." She also said she was "very happy" that German's federal prosecution office had named a suspect in the case. Known hacker Dmitriy Badin was already subject to an FBI manhunt and is tied to the "Fancy Bear" or ATP28 operation, which is probably best known for its hack of Democratic Party servers in the runup to the 2016 election in the US.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded with incredulity last week when asked about the case, saying "I don't know who Germany is issuing the warrant for, I don't know about which hackers is this about, and why is this hacker supposed to be tied to the [Russian intelligence agency] GRU."
A day later, the Russian Embassy in Berlin said it had received no inquiry from the German government about Badin and had no information about him.
Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel: Through good times and bad
Vladimir Putin has been ruling Russia since 2000. Angela Merkel was German chancellor for 16 years from 2005. The relationship between the two leaders had its ups and downs. And it all started so nicely…
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Up-and-coming leaders
In 2002, Angela Merkel was the head of what was then Germany's main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Putin was the fresh-faced president of a new and modern Russia. After meeting Putin in the Kremlin, Merkel reportedly joked to her aides that she had passed the "KGB test" of holding his gaze — an allusion to Putin's earlier career in the Soviet security agency.
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New chancellor in town
Putin had built a friendship with Angela Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, and the two men remain close to this day. By late 2005, however, it was clear that Merkel was set to dethrone the Social Democrat Schröder. Talking to Merkel in Russia's Berlin embassy, Putin pledged to expand the ties between the two countries. Merkel described the dialogue as "very open."
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A friendly ear for Putin
About a year later, Putin shared his impressions of the woman who had since become Germany's chancellor: "We don't know each other on a very personal level, but I'm impressed by her ability to listen," he told Germany's public broadcaster MDR from Dresden, adding that listening was a rare skill among female politicians.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hiekel
A gap in Merkel's armor
The German chancellor has a well-known fear of dogs. Still, Putin let his black lab Konni wonder around the Sochi venue when he welcomed Merkel there in January 2007. Was he trying to intimidate her? Merkel seems to think so: "I believe the Russian president knew very well that I wasn't thrilled by the idea of meeting his dog, but he still brought it with him," the chancellor said in 2015.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Chirikov
Too thin-skinned on media
By 2012, Vladimir Putin had taken on a harsher course towards the press and political dissenters. When asked about media freedom while in Saint Petersburg, Merkel responded with a barely hidden jab at her fellow leader: "If I were to get sulky every time I opened a newspaper, I wouldn't last three days as chancellor," she said.
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Talks continue into the ice age
Relations between Moscow and the West took a steep plunge after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. However, Putin told German media that he still maintained a "business-like relationship" with the German chancellor. "I trust her. She is a very open person. She, like anyone else, is subject to certain limitations, but she is honestly attempting to solve the crises," he told Bild, a German daily.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Nikolskyi
No insult intended but ...
"I don't mean to insult anybody, but Ms. Merkel's statement is an outburst of a long-accumulated anger over limited sovereignty," Putin told the press in 2017, commenting on an election campaign address that the German leader had given in Munich. Merkel's so-called "beer tent" speech saw her urge Europeans to rely on themselves amidst disputes with US President Donald Trump.
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Rolling with it
Just a month after Putin's remarks on sovereignty, the two leaders were photographed talking at a G-20 summit in Hamburg. While the topic remains a mystery, both Merkel and Putin used strong gestures. At one point, as Putin wags his finger Merkel looks away from him and rolls her eyes. The moment quickly went viral.
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'We have to talk to each other'
When Merkel arrived in Sochi in 2018, Putin welcomed her with a bouquet of flowers. An offer of peace? An act of gallantry? Sexism? The rationale didn't really matter in the big picture. Appearing alongside Putin, Merkel said dialogue needed to go on. "Even if there are grave differences of opinion on some issues, we have to talk to each other, because otherwise you just sink into silence."
Image: picture-alliance/Sputnik/S. Guneev
Handshake in 2020
Angela Merkel met with the Russian President in the Kremlin in January 2020. Later, relations again deteriorated over the Russian involvement in Ukraine, but also over its treatment of dissidents. Most notably of dissident Alexei Navalny who was arrested upon his return to Russia from medical treatment in Germany.
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'We must be aware of this'
Merkel, who speaks Russian well and often leads NATO and European efforts at rapprochement with Vladimir Putin, said it was only the latest piece of evidence for a Russian "strategy" of hybrid warfare.
"Sadly, my conclusions aren't that new, because this is just one facet of many. There is a Russian strategy — we must be aware of this and we cannot simply wish it away — of hybrid warfare, also involving such cyber disorientation and the twisting of the facts," Merkel said. "It is not a coincidence, it is absolutely a strategy they're pursuing. Nevertheless, I will continue to strive for a good relationship with Russia, because I believe there are very good reasons to pursue such diplomatic efforts. But this doesn't make it any easier. "
One MP picked up on Merkel's use of the word "uncomfortable" in a follow-up question, positing that this word did not go far enough and that others might find it "outrageous, and rather more than uncomfortable."
"More than uncomfortable, that is correct," Merkel replied. "Uncomfortable is one facet of this. I also find it outrageous. Though I am not the only one affected, many other lawmakers might find it outrageous as well."
It is not the first time that an alleged attempt to hack Chancellor Merkel's communications has made the headlines. The more famous example involved the United States' National Security Agency in 2013. Those allegations coming to light as part of the information revealed via whistleblower Edward Snowden, who ultimately sought asylum in Russia.
