As of: January 30, 2024, 4:01 p.m
By: Bona Hyun
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Explosive suspicion: EU MP Tatjana Zdanoka is said to have worked with Russian secret services for years.
Leaked emails prove this.
Brussels – The EU Parliament has opened an investigation against Latvian MP Tatjana Zdanoka because of possible contacts with the FSB.
Parliament Speaker Roberta Metsola is taking the allegations made in a media report “very seriously,” parliament announced on Tuesday (January 30).
In Latvia, the security authorities also initiated an investigation into the information that had become known about the 73-year-old.
A long-time EU representative is said to have worked with the Russian secret service.
© Christoph Hardt/imago
Putin spy in the EU Parliament?
MPs probably worked with FSB
Zadanoka, who has represented Latvia in the European Parliament since 2004, is believed to have been a Russian agent since at least 2015.
This is reported by
The Insider
and, together with the Estonian media company
Delfi
, the Latvian center for investigative journalism
Re:Baltica
and the Swedish newspaper
Expressen
, cites leaked emails between Zdanoka and her alleged Russian contacts.
Zdanoka had worked for the Russian domestic secret service FSB for years and was tasked with promoting a pro-Kremlin mood in the Baltics.
The emails are also available to
Spiegel
.
Zdanoka therefore sent reports about her work in the EU Parliament, in particular about her attempts to spread pro-Russian positions in the Baltics.
Further emails discussed arranging physical meetings and money.
EU parliamentarian Zdanoka is said to have worked for Putin
The non-attached politician was looked after by two different FSB agents from at least 2004 to 2017, according to the report by
The Insider
.
According to the Latvian security police, Zdanoka's status as a MEP and the associated legal immunity are a "significant aspect that contributed to her activities in support of Russia's geopolitical interests." Sources also told the Internet newspaper that this is not surprising given her public positions would be that she is a Russian spy.
“Russian spy” in the EU Parliament – MP Zdanoka rejects allegations
According to information from
The Insider,
Zdanoka was initially in contact with a veteran of the FSB, now 74-year-old Dmitry Gladey.
From 2013 onwards she was in regular contact with Sergei Beltyukov, who has been a member of the FSB since 1993.
Zdanoka told
The Insider
that she couldn't specifically remember anyone named Beltyukov.
In the emails, Beltyukov uses his surname Krasin.
However, Zdanoka confirmed that she had been in contact with Gladey for years.
She didn't know he was a Russian spy.
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Zdanoka has been known for her pro-Russian positions for many years.
As a sitting member of the European Parliament, Zdanoka took part as an international observer in a mock referendum on Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 that was widely viewed as illegitimate.
In spring 2022, according to Spiegel
, Zdanoka was
one of 13 members of the EU Parliament who voted against a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
She was then expelled from the Green group in parliament.
(bohy/ with dpa)