– A serious provocation – VG

– The Norwegian authorities accuse Russia of the “computer attack” on the Storting. No evidence has been presented. We consider such accusations against our country unacceptable.

The Russian embassy in Norway writes this in a Facebook message late Monday, in response to the Foreign Ministry’s statement on Monday afternoon that it was Russia that was behind TI’s extensive attack on the Storting in August. .

“We regard the incident as a serious, deliberate, catastrophic provocation for the bilateral relationship,” continues the Russian embassy.

Waiting for a response

In the Facebook message, the Russian embassy notes that millions of cyberattacks take place every year on the Russian state’s online resources.

– For example, against the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January-September 2018 and, among other things, against the foreign service missions in Norway. This does not give the right to unjustifiably accuse the authorities of the countries from which the alleged attacks originate.

– We await explanations from the Norwegian side, they write.

Believes that the Norwegian authorities do not want dialogue

They write that there are official channels to investigate this type of case, and they point out that in May they sent a note to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard, without receiving any response.

– There was no response then, indicating that the Norwegian authorities are reluctant to enter into a dialogue.

The Russian embassy also asks why mechanisms and legal bases have been established to deal with such cases, if they are not fulfilled.

– just nonsense

Politicians in Russia also dismiss the accusations. The head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, says the following in a statement to the Tass news agency:

– As always, the accusations are made without worrying about the evidence and any discussion of the facts at the expert level, says Konstantin Kosachev.

Kosatsev also notes that an employee of the Federation Council was arrested in Norway and placed in pre-trial detention before the allegations turned out to be unfounded, but that Norway did not apologize.

Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, says the same:

– It’s nonsense. For such claims, strong evidence is needed, he says.

– This is not the first time that Norway has become hostage to general anti-Russian hysteria. As we recall, in August Oslo expelled Russian diplomats as a result of longstanding espionage allegations.

Slutskji is probably referring to the expulsion of a Russian diplomat as a result of a meeting the diplomat held with the Norwegian accused of espionage in mid-August.

“This was a serious step towards the deterioration of the Russian-Norwegian relationship. The accusations of a Russian cyber attack against the Norwegian parliament are another step in that direction,” he concludes.

The computer attack on the Storting

• When? At the end of August, the Storting administration became aware of unauthorized logins to various email accounts.
• WHO? A small number of people in the Storting are affected, both politicians and employees, from the Labor, Conservative, Social Democratic and Liberal parties.
• What could they have accessed? According to the Storting, they may have obtained information such as account numbers, social security numbers and banking information. They may also have had access to information on itineraries, contact details, and arrangements to process political affairs. Some email accounts also contain medical information, such as possible allergies. However, the Storting has not found that classified information can be misleading.

Based on analysis

The foreign minister says they base their accusations against Russia on analyzes that are “clear.” But I will not go into what these analyzes really are.

PST will not comment on the investigation and says they will only draw conclusions when it is finished. In other words, they don’t want to target Russia, like the government does.

– Investigation and attribution have two different purposes. The investigation is going in its own direction and we are not going to comment on that, but based on the information that our services have analyzed, this is attributed to Russia, says the foreign minister.

– We want to maintain a continuous pragmatic relationship with Russia, but also be clear that we must say no when it comes to attacks that affect our most important democratic institution, says Søreide.