Belgian secret services detect a network infiltrated in several European countries and in the EU institutions that has tried to influence MEPs. The Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, announced this Friday the opening of an investigation by the national justice system into Moscow's attempts to interfere.
The situation is so serious that the Belgian head of government wants to take the issue to the summit of leaders of the Twenty-seven next week and has also requested an urgent meeting of Eurojust, the EU judicial coordination agency. “The cash payments did not occur in Belgium, but the interference did. As the headquarters of the European institutions [Brussels], we have the responsibility to guarantee citizens' right to free and secure elections,” he indicated. The Latvian MEP Tatiana Zdanoka, accused of having worked for at least 13 years for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), has been banned from representing the European Parliament in various forums and the withdrawal of allowances for five days, equivalent to 1,750 euros.