German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday Berlin was boosting military cyber capabilities to respond to Russian hybrid warfare that is targeting its troops deployed on NATO's eastern flank.

"Here you are also confronted with a situation that represents another part of the Russian military doctrine: the idea of hybrid warfare," she told German troops stationed in Lithuania as part of a NATO force deployed to deter Russia.

NATO allies have accused Russia of using "hybrid warfare" techniques, including subversion, propaganda and cyber warfare, to undermine the West without triggering a full NATO military response.

Russia has repeatedly denied that it stages such attacks and has accused the US-led alliance of provoking an arms race.

"Hybrid warfare is not something that we are very used to. You clearly experience this here in very specific ways," Merkel added, without elaborating.

"It is not for nothing that we built in Germany a special cyber unit within the German military in order to build capabilities in this area," she told troops at their base in Rukla, northwest of the capital Vilnius.

Last year, Germany deployed over 500 troops in Lithuania as part of a NATO mission to reassure eastern allies and deter Russia.

Soon after their arrival, German troops were subjected to false rape accusations while media reports said Moscow also targeted NATO soldiers' smartphones.

Fears that Russia could attempt to attack NATO's ex-communist states surged after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move that sent East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Besides Lithuania, 1,000-strong NATO battalions were also deployed in fellow Baltic states Latvia and Estonia and neighbouring Poland.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Majority of French no longer see US as trusted ally: poll
Paris (AFP) Sept 12, 2018
France is famously America's oldest ally, but more than half of French people no longer consider the United States a reliable partner, according to a survey released Wednesday. Just 44 percent said the US was a "trusted ally" under President Donald Trump - a 33 point plunge since the same survey was done in May 2014, when Barack Obama was in the White House. Only 17 percent said they had a positive opinion of Trump in the Ifop poll, commissioned by the American Jewish Committee advocacy group, ... read more