British Prime Minister: Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum

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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that Russia interfered in the 2016 Brexit referendum, warning voters in France and Germany of efforts supported by Moscow to influence the political situation in the two countries.

Burnham added, in an interview with the “The Rest as Politics” podcast published on Sunday, that he asked upon his arrival at Downing Street whether there was Russian interference in the referendum, and received a “clear answer” that this had indeed happened.

The British Prime Minister did not clarify the nature of the interference that he believed Russia had carried out or the evidence on which he based his statements.

Burnham, who took office last July, said last month that Britain might consider returning to the European Union in the future, becoming the first British Prime Minister to publicly announce the existence of evidence of Russian interference in the referendum that took place ten years ago.

Moscow had previously denied interfering in the Brexit referendum, and described the British accusations as part of “anti-Russian hysteria.”

Burnham's statements contradict the position of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who led the campaign to leave the European Union and said in 2020 that there was no evidence of Russian interference in the referendum.

The British voted in the 2016 referendum by 52 percent to 48 percent in favor of leaving the European Union, in a move that led to one of the largest political crises in the country since World War II.

Burnham said voters in European democracies need to be aware of efforts to destabilize political systems, adding that documenting such interventions will help voters in Germany and France understand that some political trends “are being instigated by our enemies, namely Russia.”