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The Latvian MEP Tatjana Ždanoka apparently worked for the Russian secret service FSB.
© Christoph Hardt/Imago
The case of the Latvian MEP, who is said to have worked for the Russian secret service for almost 20 years, could be just the beginning.
They did not want to give the specific names of other people who were suspected; that was the job of the secret services.
The Latvian EPP MP Sandra Kalniete, however, advises taking a look at the voting behavior of MPs in order to find initial indications of foreign influence.
Since the historic bribery scandal involving the Greek Vice-President of the EU Parliament, Eva Kaili, last year, which became known as “Qatargate”, the European Parliament's vulnerability to corruption and foreign influence is no longer a secret.
While the focus here was on states such as Morocco and Qatar, the Ždanoka case now shifts the focus to Russian agents in Brussels.
Rasa Juknevičienė, former Lithuanian defense minister, fears that Belgium's intelligence services are unable to identify foreign agents in Brussels.
The large number of international organizations and diplomatic missions in the European capital have long made the city a gateway for foreign agents.
Juknevičienė emphasizes that not only Russia, but also China, Iran and Turkey are exerting their influence here.
However, Russia is proceeding particularly systematically.
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European voice – Russian state propaganda
Latvian MPs have suspected Zdanoka of working for Moscow for some time.
However, concrete evidence could only be provided through journalistic research, which was intended to prove a meeting with Russian officers and the exchange of information with Russia.
Ždanoka herself denies the allegations.
The fact is, however, that the 73-year-old Latvian traveled in 2014 as an “international observer” to the independence vote in Crimea, which was internationally classified as a sham referendum, and was recently one of only 13 MPs to vote against a resolution that condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The Greens/EFA group then expelled her from their group.
Since then she has been non-attached.
The European Parliament launched an investigation into the MEP last Monday.
The hope is that this investigation will also provide further insights into the strategy and extent of Russian influence in the EU.
While the political influence of actors like Ždanoka in Brussels itself is usually limited, they play an important role in Moscow's propaganda in Russian state media.
jb/wp