The hand of Russian interference hovers over the European Parliament elections. The Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, announced yesterday that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the country has opened an investigation after confirming the existence of a network of active pro-Russian influence in several countries of the Union. The plot, detected at the beginning by the Czech spy services, would have bought the will of European politicians, including members of the European Parliament.
“The cash payments did not take place in Belgium, but the interference did […] and, as the headquarters of the institutions, we have the responsibility to defend the right of Europeans to free and safe elections”, explained De Croo in statements to the international press. “According to our intelligence services, their objectives are very clear. The aim is to help elect pro-Russian candidates to the European Parliament and reinforce a certain pro-Russian narrative in the institution. The weakening of European support for Ukraine favors Russia on the battlefield”, he emphasized.
Belgian intelligence services work in coordination with counterparts in the Czech Republic, which at the end of March detected that there was a plot of pro-Russian influence active in several countries. Russian operatives would have used an alleged media outlet called Voice of Europe, based in Prague, to disseminate pro-Russian propaganda and give visibility to far-right politicians with anti-Ukrainian views.
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the opening of the investigation on Thursday, but did not give details about the identity or nationality of the politicians under suspicion, who, according to Czech intelligence services, include Germans, Belgians, French, Dutch, Polish and Hungarian. The Belgian Government has requested an urgent meeting at Eurojust, the EU’s judicial cooperation agency, to address the ramifications of the case. “Our citizens will not be fooled by this propaganda, but we must clearly unmask it”, argued De Croo.
After being alerted by its intelligence services to the existence of a pro-Russian plot in Europe, the Czech Government immediately imposed sanctions on pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch Víktor Medvedchuk, godfather of one of President Vladimir’s daughters Putin, suspected of financing the alleged information portal. The website, which is active in social networks and messaging applications in several countries, has been sanctioned, as has its manager, pro-Russian Ukrainian producer Artem Marchevsky. In his Telegram account, Voice of Europe, in which he celebrates the progress of parties such as National Reunification in France, Alternative for Germany or the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, he describes as “absurd” the accusations that they receive orders from the Kremlin and asks readers not to be “brainwashed by people who hate them”.
A joint journalistic investigation between the German weekly Der Spiegel and the Czech Deník N has revealed that the secret services of both countries suspect that the far-right Petr Bystrom, number two on the Alternative for Germany lists for the European elections in June, has received cash payments from Moscow, allegations that come after contacts emerged between the party and Russian intelligence about its campaign against arms shipments to Ukraine. In parallel, a joint operation by the intelligence services of the Czech Republic and Poland has led to the closure of Voice of Europe in that country and allowed the Polish police to seize several tens of thousands of euros in metal
The European Parliament took note yesterday of the opening of the Belgian investigation and made itself available to the judicial authorities to assist them in their inquiries, which escape the competences and responsibilities of the institution. While the possible criminal responsibilities are in the hands of the member states, the institution can act if it verifies that – beyond the simple expression of ideological positions – one of the members has violated the rules. This is what he has just done with Latvian MEP Tatjana Zdanoka, accused of working for at least 13 years for the Russian Federal Security Service, who has been banned from representing the Chamber in various forums and has had her allowances withdrawn, an equivalent sanction at 1,750 euros.
