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Pirates face 200 motions at party conference

The Pirate Party is trying to figure out its future course after stunning victories in recent months have created a lot of political discussion - and criticism - about the political newcomers.

Published: 28 April 2012 14:15 CEST

Pirates face 200 motions at party conference

Photo: DPA

Some 1,500 members gathered in Neumünster for a two-day party conference Saturday, in which the outgoing leader, Marina Weisband, told fellow party members that they bear an “unbelievable responsibility” to change society.

The comments come just days after Martin Delius, parliamentary manager of the Pirates in the Berlin state government, told Der Spiegel magazine that the party’s rise was “as fast as” that of the Nazi party in the 1930s.

The 27-year old apologized and said he would not longer stand for election to lead the party nationally.

The weekend conference has some 200 motions to deal with, including basic questions dealing with the direction of the party, which was founded in 2006.

Party members voted to elect its national leaders on a yearly basis when a suggestion for elections every two years was rejected.

Recent polls show the Pirates gaining 13 percent of the vote nationwide, and they are expected to perform strongly the upcoming state elections in Schleswig-Holstein on May 6 and North Rhine-Westphalia on May 13.

Ruling coalition parties have avoided criticising the Pirates, seemingly unsure how seriously to take them. Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union described the Pirates as “an interesting occurance” and told the Leipziger Volkszeitung that the party “makes the political spectrum more multifaceted.”

Germany’s Health Minister and Free Democratic Party member Daniel Bahr said his party should set the example when it comes to transparency and dialogue about the internet – two key Pirate party themes.

“We can cut a slice from the Pirates’” program, the minister said.

The opposition Social Democratic Party parliamentary leader Thomas Oppermann called the Pirates the “new, better liberals.” He told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that the Pirates might be able to keep the FDP and the Left party out of the state parliaments in both upcoming regional elections.

DAPD/The Local/mw

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Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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