Foreign interference scandals make European Parliament nervous

7 months ago 32

With cases of alleged foreign interference piling up ahead of June’s EU elections, the European Parliament is getting nervous, and its main political groups are demanding swift action from authorities to clarify the cases.

On Tuesday, a new case involving the assistant of Germany’s far-right AfD figure and MEP, Maximilian Krah, shook the Parliament’s last plenary session. According to reports, the assistant was on Beijing’s payroll.

Last month, Czech and Belgian authorities uncovered what they say is a Russian propaganda network that counts several MEPs among its financial beneficiaries.

As more cases are revealed, political group leaders have quickly called for “investigations” despite the matter now being in the hands of national authorities.

“I think it is clear that this exists, that there is also a very clear link with the extreme right…. it is not a coincidence, and I insist that we must continue with an investigation so that we can work with total security within this institution,” Socialists President Iratxe Garcia said when asked by Euractiv, pointing fingers at one side of the political spectrum.

This was echoed by Greens and Renew, which also pointed to the far-right as the weakest link.

However, investigative media reported in early February that Tatjana Ždanoka, a Latvian MEP who used to sit with the Greens, was accused of being a Russian spy, after which the Parliament opened an internal investigation.

Furthermore, the cash-for-influence QatarGate scandal rocked the Socialists in 2022.

Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki from the Conservative ECR told Euractiv that Russia is “active” in all political groups and said he mainly would bet money on the Socialists.

In a draft resolution, the EPP mentions “credible reports involving MEPs, particularly belonging to the ID and The Left groups, as well as non-attached Members, who knowingly serve Russia’s interests, as reflected by their public interventions, voting record, and organised events.”

The centre-right points fingers not only at Russia but also China, highlighting cases of reported close links involving the Hungarian government, the German far-right AfD, France’s far-right Rassemblement National, and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), but did not give examples in The Left.

In their resolution drafts, both the EPP and the Liberals expressed concern over Russian interference in Catalonia’s pro-independence groups.

Action, action, action

In their proposed resolution, the Liberals “call for exposing any sitting MEPs or candidates in the upcoming European elections that have taken money from or been corrupted by the Russian Government or their proxies” and call for lifting MEPs’ immunity if requested.

And believe MEPs must “remain ready to evaluate further and fine-tune the functioning and sanctioning of Parliament’s integrity framework”.

“Our democracies are eroding,” said Greens Co-President Terry Reintke, adding that Parliament should conduct investigations before the elections to give citizens clarity.

The EU Parliament will vote on a new resolution on Russian interference on Thursday after an agreement between main political groups was concluded on Tuesday night.

Apart from the usual statements “condemning” and “deploring” attempts to interfere in Europe’s democracies, any call for strengthening the institution’s integrity will likely fall on deaf ears as the Parliament concludes all activity this week.

[Edited by Aurélie Pugnet/Alice Taylor]