U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed Kremlin involvement in his country’s 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union, the Observer newspaper reported on Oct. 11.
Burnham asked about Kremlin involvement when he became prime minister in July, reports the Observer, where he said he was given “the clear answer that, yes, there was.”
The Observer reports that Burnham made his comments on one of the U.K.’s biggest politics podcasts, The Rest is Politics, with the episode set to come out Oct. 12.
It would mark the first public acknowledgment by a British prime minister of Russia’s role in the country’s divisive Brexit campaign, in which the country decided to leave the EU with 52% in favor and 48% wanting to remain part of the bloc.
Russia has long been suspected of driving euroscepticism in the U.K. and other European countries, and of working to bolster the country’s “Leave” campaign more than ten years ago.
Burnham’s comments were made days after he visited German counterpart Friedrich Merz in Berlin.
In Germany, the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany party is enjoying record levels of support, and won elections in the eastern regions of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg West Pomerania in September.
“These things are important now to put clearly on the record and, I believe, help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia,” the Observer reports Burnham saying.
The comments also emerge as Burnham works to deepen ties with the EU, a process that began under his predecessors Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, and which has been helped by a shared commitment to support Ukraine.