GERMAN BUNDESTAG LEADER WORRIED ABOUT FOREIGN INFLUENCE ON POLLS

German Parliamentary Speaker Wolfgang Schaeuble fears the could be an attempt by foreign actors to influence the country's upcoming election campaign by forming opinions ahead of the Bundestag elections, Ulrich Steinkohl reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

"The danger is relatively great," the veteran conservative politician, whose official title is Bundestag president, told dpa in Berlin. "We know what can be done with fake news. And we know from the experience of past elections in other countries that a real propaganda war is being waged here."

It is not always clear exactly who the attacks are coming from, said Schaeuble, who also served several years as German interior minister. "And the usual suspects, after all, always reject the accusations - even if there are always relatively clear leads."

"What specifically worries me is that there is a relatively large part of the population that is well-integrated per se, but informs itself - which is legitimate - partly or predominantly from foreign media," the Bundestag president explained.

A medium like Russia Today (RT), however, is "quite obviously not a channel that even comes close to the principles of media freedom," he said.

"To that extent, the state of press freedom in countries like Russia or Turkey also has an impact on voters in Germany."

WEEKLY FEATURE : PAL READY TO SOAR WITH PANDEMIC