Investigation into European candidates on Putin’s payroll must be swift and thorough 

EU governments announced that an investigation has uncovered a Moscow-funded network around the “Voice of Europe” website that paid several politicians to influence the European Parliament and the European elections.

Several politicians from six European countries are said to have been paid by “Voice of Europe”. According to intelligence sources, these are politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Hungary. The AfD is explicitly mentioned in the reports, but without mentioning specific names. Monday, Belgian newspapers revealed that the Flemish MP Philip Dewinter (also far-right Vlaams Belang / Identity and Democracy) worked for many years on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

European Green lead candidate Terry Reintke reacts: “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. This undermines our European unity. This is how Putin is trying to get away with his war in Ukraine. This is not just a breach of trust; it’s a direct attack on the very fabric of our democracy. The politicians who have received money from Russia should be severely punished, both politically and legally”.

European Green lead candidate Bas Eickhout calls for a thorough and EU-Wide investigation: “Citizens must be able to trust politicians. Therefore, there must be a swift and thorough European-wide investigation to get to the bottom of this. The European elections are in 10 weeks’ time. We need to be sure that none of the candidates for these elections are being paid by Russians.”

During the Dutch parliament debate yesterday on the topic, MP Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks / European Green Party) urged right-wing MPs Geert Wilders (PVV/ID) and Thierry Baudet (FVD/ID) to break all ties with destabilising foreign influences. During and after that debate, MP Thierry Baudet threatened to beat up MP Jesse Klaver if he continued asking for the FVD to release its annual reports. The president of the Dutch parliament conducts an investigation into the threats.

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