Russian official wrongly claims Merkel rejects hacking fears

BERLIN – Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claims talk of Moscow targeting Germany with cyberattacks is “nonsense” and that Chancellor Angela Merkel agrees.

In fact, Merkel has said quite the opposite.

Asked Friday about recent reports that Germany is concerned about the growing threat of Russian cyberattacks ahead of its general election next year, Lavrov told reporters in Hamburg that “even Chancellor Merkel made a public statement saying it’s all nonsense.”

German officials declined to comment directly on Lavrov’s remarks, but pointed to two instances last month in which Merkel spoke about the threat posed by cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns originating in Russia.

Meanwhile, the Association for the German Language on Friday announced that its word of the year is “postfaktisch” — a reference to the rise of “post truth” politics.