Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was targeted in a Chinese hacking incident, part of a broader espionage campaign aimed at members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). Other Belgian officials were also compromised.
Former Belgium’s Prime Minister and a member of the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt has been unveiled as the latest victim of a Chinese state-linked espionage movement targeting officials performing on an inter-parliamentary committee focused on China.
Belgian newspaper Le Soir first reported the news. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice gave an indictment saying that Chinese hackers with connections to the national spy agency, the Ministry of State Security, targeted “every European Union member” of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), a section of lawmakers critical of Beijing.
Who Were the Targets of Chinese Hacking in Belgium?
Guy Verhofstadt is the fifth Belgian official to have been compromised by the Chinese hacker group APT31 for his position in China through IPAC. Other targeted Belgian officials include Samuel Cogolati, a Green MP; Els Van Hoof, the chair of Belgium’s Foreign Affairs Committee; Hilde Vautmans, a liberal MEP; and Georges Dallemagne, a federal deputy.
Last week, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib summoned the Chinese ambassador over the allegations. Samuel Cogolati said that he was targeted in 2021, the exact year Beijing sanctioned him, alongside other European Union lawmakers. The cyberattacks were conveyed to Cogolati’s alert only in February 2023 through an email from the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium.
What Was the Motive Behind Chinese Hacking in Belgium?
According to a U.S. FBI letter mailed to Cigolati dated April 5, the 2021 hacking campaign targeted the .gov-style versions of EU legislators who were members of IPAC. The perpetrators documented and used 10 accounts to send over 1,000 emails to more than 400 individuals linked with IPAC.
In Van Hoof’s case, the spies targeted her laptop through an email that darted as if it came from an international agency, she pointed to a local radio show.
“The emails were about Donald Trump and human rights. They seemed very innocent and informative. But the intention was to get into our system,” she stated.
According to a joint press announcement shared by MEP Hilde Vautmans with POLITICO, the five targeted officials stated, “This was not an attack on any single political party or any particular country. It was an attack on any politician who dares to challenge Beijing.” They contended, “We speak with one voice in condemning these actions, which strike at the heart of the democratic values which unite us.”
