Europe urged to brace for Kremlin-backed disinformation as Burnham flags risks to upcoming votes
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham officially confirmed that Russia systematically interfered in British public opinion during the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), known as “Brexit.” It is the first time a sitting British prime minister has publicly acknowledged Russian interference in the Brexit vote, a momentous election that determined the nation’s fate. Burnham warned that the same thing is happening now in Germany and France, signaling significant repercussions across European politics.
In an interview released on the 11th (local time) on the political podcast The Rest is Politics, Burnham said, “Upon entering Downing Street, I asked whether there had been interference from Russia during the 2016 referendum and received a clear answer: ‘Yes.'” He added, “We need to put this on the record so that voters in Germany and France can recognize that parts of their domestic politics are being instigated by Russia, our adversary.” However, Burnham did not say from whom he received the answer, what evidence it was based on, or whether Russia’s interference actually changed the outcome of the Brexit vote.
Brexit is a portmanteau of Britain and Exit and refers to the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU. In a referendum held in June 2016, the U.K. voted to leave the EU for the first time in 47 years, with 52% in favor and 48% against. The Conservative government of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which led the Brexit push, had long officially denied Russian interference, saying there was “no evidence of Russia-led election interference.”
Burnham’s forceful remarks mark a new stance that is entirely at odds with past Conservative governments. In the interview, Burnham said, “In 2016, we did not understand the extent to which there was state-sponsored interference by Russia in U.K. democratic processes.”
Indications of Russian interference began to take shape through academic analysis the year after the vote. In Nov. 2017, The Times cited research by Swansea University and UC Berkeley to report that 156,252 Russian-language Twitter accounts diverted attention to Brexit just before the vote. Posts from these accounts grew from around 1,000 a day two weeks before the referendum to 45,000 over the 48 hours around the vote, more than a 20-fold daily increase. Most posts intensively spread extreme and provocative messages opposing refugee acceptance and the EU. It is seen as an attempt to maximize political polarization in the U.K. and spur withdrawal.
The Guardian, citing analysis from the University of Edinburgh, reported that 419 accounts from Russia’s opinion-manipulation outfit “Internet Research Agency (IRA)” posed as Americans and others to post 3,468 Brexit items. The IRA is an “internet troll factory” headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia, where hundreds run fake accounts. The group is known to have been financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian state media RT and Sputnik published 261 anti-EU articles from January 2016 through referendum day to foment division. On Twitter at the time, those articles reached 134 million impressions, reportedly outpacing the reach of Vote Leave and Leave.EU, the major Brexit leave campaign groups in the U.K.
The British government, however, did not seriously investigate these indications. In July 2020, the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) said in its “Russia report” that, unlike the United States—which produced a swift assessment of Russian interference just two months after the 2016 presidential election—the U.K. government failed to properly investigate. ISC Commissioner Stuart Hosie, a Scottish National Party (SNP) lawmaker, said the government was “actively avoiding” the allegations. The report stated there was precedent for Russia seeking to influence the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
British politics reacted along partisan lines to Burnham’s remarks. The Conservatives told the Telegraph that “the Brexit referendum result is legitimate and its integrity should not be questioned,” and argued that “Prime Minister Burnham’s attempt to turn back the clock to 2016 runs counter to the national interest.” The pro-Leave group Britain Unbound also told the BBC there is “no reason to believe Russian interference affected the 2016 result,” adding, “It is an insult to say voters were that easily duped.”
By contrast, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said it was “what a prime minister needed to say,” voicing support. Burnham said at last month’s Labor Party conference in Liverpool that “Brexit did more harm than good,” leaving open the possibility of rejoining the EU. He also downgraded Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK and a chief driver of the Brexit phase, as “the person who saddled the U.K. with a decade of division and drift.”
During a visit to Berlin last week, Burnham also conveyed concerns in a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has ties with Russia. After the meeting, he said, “Chancellor Merz said the AfD is clearly connected to Russia and appears to be receiving funding from Russia,” adding, “There is definitely misinformation and disinformation being spread from Russia into German politics.”
The Russian government, identified as the force behind the incidents, has consistently maintained that it does not interfere in other countries’ elections. When the British parliamentary report was released in the past, Russia’s foreign minister dismissed it as “baseless Russophobia.” Still, signs of Russian meddling have emerged in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the 2024 presidential election in Romania, an EU member, and a Moldovan referendum to enshrine an October 2024 target for EU accession in the constitution. In January 2017, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concluded that President Putin ordered an influence operation targeting the 2016 U.S. election. The 2024 Romanian presidential election was annulled over suspected Russian interference. In Moldova, a small country of 2.5 million between Ukraine and Romania, investigators found votes were bought with money.
Nicholas Burns, former U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, testified at a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on June 28, 2017, that Russia’s election interference on both sides of the Atlantic aims at “weakening Western democracy and driving a wedge between Europe and the United States.” Jennifer Lundy, a democracy expert at the McCain Institute think tank, also said, “Russia’s objective is not necessarily to secure victory for a particular camp,” adding, “It is closer to delaying reforms and spreading chaos to revive Russian influence without firing a shot.”
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