Senate intel panel to hold hearing on Russian meddling in Europe

The Senate Intelligence Committee will turn its attention to Russia’s efforts to meddle in European elections on Wednesday.

The panel has for months been investigating the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow. 

The hearing on Wednesday will draw from a panel of experts in international security and Europe. 

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While the brunt of the intelligence committee’s Russia-related hearings in recent weeks have focused on the Kremlin’s impact on U.S. political contests, intelligence officials suspect that Russia was behind a cyberattack that sought to disrupt France’s presidential election. 

Likewise, Montenegro underwent a series of cyberattacks in October during its election and once more in February, months before the small Balkan nation officially joined NATO.

U.S. officials have warned that Russia is likely to carry out similar cyber and influence campaigns in the future in an effort to disrupt or sway elections across Europe and the U.S. 

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) has pointed to Germany’s upcoming elections in the fall as a likely target of Russian meddling.

“What we might assess was a very covert effort in 2016 in the United States, is a very overt effort, as well as covert, in Germany and France,” Burr said, according to Agence France-Presse.