Italian foreign minister warns of Russian interference in EU elections

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday warned that the Russian Federation may attempt to interfere in European elections, describing such actions as a threat to democratic processes across the bloc amid heightened concerns about foreign influence operations, according to AA. Speaking to reporters, Tajani stated: "I do not rule out that there may be attempts by the Russian Federation to interfere in the democratic life of European Union countries, interfering with the free democratic elections held in our countries, seeking to influence the popular will through this deplorable activity," according to the ANSA news agency.

He described such interference as "a general issue" affecting the entire European Union and stressed the need for preemptive measures. The minister emphasized that coordinated action remains essential to safeguard the integrity of democratic institutions across member states.

Cyber defense operations

Tajani noted that Italian authorities maintain an operations room working 24 hours a day to repel cyberattacks targeting diplomatic missions. "It is no coincidence that there is an operations room working 24 hours a day, precisely to repel cyberattacks, many of which come from Russian hackers, against our diplomatic missions and the ministry," he added, highlighting ongoing digital security threats.

Call for vigilance

The foreign minister underscored that such interference would be unacceptable given that Rome maintains diplomatic relations with Moscow. "This would truly be unacceptable. It has already been discussed on more than one occasion. We need to remain vigilant; we need to prevent such actions by a country with which we are not at war," Tajani said. The operations room monitoring cyber threats functions around the clock to shield diplomatic missions from potential attacks.