Continuing to try to play up the “threat” posed by Russia while trying to sell NATO nations on a massive increase in military spending, Defense Secretary James Mattis today insisted that there was “very little doubt” that Russia had “either interfered or attempted to interfere” in some elections in the past.
Mattis did not offer any specific cases of Russian interference in any specific elections, and certainly didn’t bring up the possibility of Russian involvement in the US election in November, speculation of which is still a sore spot with the Trump Administration.
He did, however, insist that NATO has always “stood for military strength and protection of democracies,” insisting that the US doubts the commitment of European member nations for not massively increasing their military spending to keep up with US demands.
Mattis also rejected the idea of increased US military ties with Russia, insisting that Russia has to prove itself to be “mature” enough to cooperate with the United States.
The potential of Russia’s “threat” to European elections has been a popular subject in nations like France and Germany, mostly because recent polls have shown those nations’ ruling parties to be polling rather poorly, and they are looking for someone to blame on the matter.
