The Belgian Prime Minister announced on Friday that the Belgian judiciary had opened an investigation into Russian “interference” in the European Parliament, following allegations that members of the European Parliament received money to spread propaganda for the Kremlin. This process comes less than two months before the European elections. “Our judicial authorities have now confirmed that this interference is subject to prosecution,” Alexander De Croo explained. “The cash payments did not happen in Belgium, but the intervention did. As Belgium is the seat of the EU institutions, we have a responsibility to defend the right of all citizens to vote freely and securely.
The Prime Minister of Belgium, the country that holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union until the end of next June, also said that this issue will be discussed in the European Council scheduled to be held on Wednesday and Thursday next week. According to De Croo, Moscow's “clear” goals are “to help elect more pro-Russian candidates to the European Parliament and to strengthen pro-Russian rhetoric in that institution.”
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor's Office confirmed to AFP that an investigation into foreign individuals or organizations suspected of making “donations, loans or offering benefits” to gain influence began Thursday. The crime carries penalties ranging from six months to five years in prison and fines ranging from 1,000 to 20,000 euros.
About a month ago, the Czech Republic previously announced that its intelligence service had discovered a network that used European Union lawmakers to spread Russian propaganda online. location Voice of Europe news agency based in Prague. Now, Belgium claims that its own services have determined that some members of the European Parliament were paid to promote Moscow's propaganda.
“If there is some kind of bribery – and our services indicate that there are payments – even though it takes two sides for that to happen, there are people organizing it, but there are also people receiving it,” De Croo continued.
Members of the European Parliament are obliged to follow strict rules on independence and ethics and can face sanctions – financial and otherwise – if they break them. The European Parliament's Greens group and a Czech daily newspaper said the suspected MEPs come from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland.
