The Special Commission on Foreign Interference of the European Parliament has adopted a report this Wednesday in which, among other things, it calls for an independent investigation of Russian interference in the framework of the separatist process in Catalonia.
The report on disinformation and foreign interference in democratic processes in the EU reiterates concerns about Russian financing of political parties and former European leaders in an attempt to gain influence in internal EU processes, at which point it refers to links of the Kremlin with Catalan secessionism.
“Expresses its concern about Russia’s connections with various EU political and political parties and its extensive interference with secessionist movements on European territories and in the EU; including in Catalonia, where the competent authorities are urged to carry out an exhaustive investigation to fully clarify what happened”, has collected the final version of the report.
In this sense, he suggests that the Helsinki European Center of Excellence for the Fight against Hybrid Threats carry out a study on Russian interference in the independence process.
The European Parliament emphasizes the rise of interference and information manipulation in Europe ahead of the 2024 European elections and calls for the necessary funds to counteract this growing phenomenon.
As MEPs warn in their report, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made more evident the link between interference and threats to the EU and its neighbourhood, including the countries of the East and the Balkans. Likewise, they warn that the Russian agenda is advancing in Germany and points to Poland, Hungary and Slovakia as Member States especially susceptible to their activities.
It also advocates promoting the exchange between national authorities and EU institutions and agencies and the creation of a specialized EU center in charge of managing intelligence information on this type of threat, as well as generating an alert system. between European Parliamentarians to combat these threats.
Similarly, MEPs call for closer cooperation with like-minded partners to counter Russian interference and increased cooperation on strategic communication to counter “manipulated narratives” in neighboring countries.
After being approved in committee with 27 votes in favour, one against and one abstention, the text will be endorsed by the plenary session of the European Parliament in its session at the end of May.
