European Parliament website affected by cyberattack

STRASBOURG, France: The European Parliament website was hit by a cyber attack claimed by pro-Russian hackers shortly after lawmakers on Wednesday approved a resolution calling Moscow a “state sponsor of terrorism”, officials said.

“The European Parliament is under a sophisticated cyberattack. A pro-Kremlin group has claimed responsibility,” the parliament´s president, Roberta Metsola, posted on Twitter. “Our IT experts are pushing back against it and protecting our systems. This, after we proclaimed Russia as a State-sponsor of terrorism. My response: #SlavaUkraini (Glory to Ukraine).”

Spokesman Jaume Duch said the parliament website had been targeted by a “DDOS attack” designed to force high levels of outside traffic onto the site´s server, disrupting the network. Another source at the parliament, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack was the “most sophisticated in recent history” to target the institution.

The parliament´s website went down shortly after EU lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to recognise Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” over its attacks on Ukraine. “Today´s attack on the European Parliament´s systems is a warning shot. It is an attack on the democratic heart of Europe,” said German MEP Rasmus Andresen.