The main political groups in the European Parliament are calling for light to be shed on the new ‘Russiagate’ scandal of alleged corruption of MEPs - this time by Russia - which is engulfing the European Parliament, just over a year after the revelations of ‘Qatarargate’.
At the end of last week, the EPP, S&D and Renew Europe groups officially called on the European Parliament’s President Roberta Metsola to schedule an urgent debate at a forthcoming plenary session, probably during the mini-plenary session on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 April in Brussels.
The EPP wants the disinformation and propaganda orchestrated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the danger it represents for democracy to be denounced at all levels. Following new allegations of Russian interference in the European Parliament and ahead of the forthcoming European elections, the S&D Group has expressed its determination to protect democracy against those who spread lies and seek to divide European citizens, its President, Iratxe García Pérez of Spain, said on the X platform.
In a letter sent to Ms Metsola on Friday 29 March, the President of the Renew Europe group, French MEP, Valérie Hayer, expressed her “grave concerns about reports, confirmed by Polish, Czech and Belgian security services and by the Prime ministers of Belgium and the Czech Republic, that Members of this House and candidates in the forthcoming European elections have been paid by the Russia Government or its proxies to disseminate propaganda in the European Parliament and beyond”. Denouncing “a clear attack on our European way of life”, she urged, in addition to a plenary debate followed by the adoption of a specific resolution, for the launching of “an immediate and transparent investigation, in cooperation with national authorities, to uncover the scale of the influence operation within this house and allegations of potential corruption”.
To see the letter from the Renew Europe group: https://aeur.eu/f/bl1
Late on Thursday 28 March, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told the national parliament that Russia had approached and paid MEPs to serve its interests and spread Russian propaganda. Over the weekend, he told RTL that his country had expelled “dozens of ‘so-called’ Russian diplomats” in recent months. On Wednesday 27 March, the Czech government decided to close the Voice of Europe website.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA group, Bas Eickhout of The Netherlands also called for “a pan-European investigation” to shed light on this latest scandal as quickly as possible. As for the German Terry Reintke, she attacked the closeness of the far right with the Kremlin. “This isn’t the first time it’s been proven that those far right politicians who loudly claim to champion the cause of their country, are secretly accepting money from foreign countries”, she denounced, calling for exemplary penalties.
The European Parliament Press Service indicated that Ms Metsola was aware of the allegations and that the European Parliament was looking into them. At the last European Council, Ms Metsola warned European leaders against “malign actors trying to influence the decision-making process in the European Union in the run up to June elections”, the press service added.
In February, Parliament expressed its alarm at the potential espionage activities carried out by Tatjana Ždanoka (Non-attached Member, Latvian) on behalf of Moscow, pledging its willingness to cooperate with the Latvian authorities to determine the “appropriate sanctions and criminal proceedings” (see EUROPE 13346/16).
The case had been referred to the European Parliament’s internal advisory committee to examine the extent to which the EU institution’s Code of Conduct had been breached, particularly with regard to the transparency of any meetings between MEPs and representatives of third countries. It is due to present its recommendations to Ms Metsola shortly, leaving it to her to decide and announce any measures at a plenary session.
Voice of Europe. In its letter, the Renew Europe group refers to the Czech government’s decision to penalise the Voice of Europe website for allegedly taking part in a pro-Russian influence operation. It calls on the President of the European Parliament to “take the necessary measures to restrict all access for Voice of Europe to the premises of the European Parliament”. And to recommend “European sanctions” to accompany those adopted by the Czech government.
At the end of last week, the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for values, Věra Jourová, told CNN that these revelations were “just the peak of the iceberg”. “It shows that Russia is using every possible channel to influence public opinion in the EU. They are using disinformation as part of their military doctrine and they are also using these hidden ways of influencing the politicians in the EU which is corruption”, she stressed.
In March 2022, just a few days after the start of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the EU decided to prevent the Russia Today and Sputnik channels from broadcasting on EU27 territory, considering them to be disinformation outlets in the service of the Kremlin (see EUROPE 12902/9).
The European Parliament Press Service pointed out that following the adoption of these European sanctions, Parliament had taken steps to suspend access to its buildings for the two Russian media. “Additional restrictions are envisaged when the sanction list evolves”, it noted. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)