The network of Kremlin agents in the European Parliament

Another new shadow has been cast on the outgoing European Parliament (EP). It is claimed that Russia had created a propaganda network through MEPs.

“For example, it turned out that Russia not only approached the members of the EP, but also paid them to spread Russian propaganda here,” Alexander De Croo, the Prime Minister of the country currently holding the EU presidency, said on Thursday during a debate in the Belgian parliament about the interference of foreign powers.

He did not name specific names, but added that the Belgian and Czech intelligence services managed to crush the Russian propaganda network this week.

The Czech Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, who was arrested at the beginning of the war and later exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners taken by the aggressor. According to the Czechs, V. Medvedchuk from Russia was conducting a “Russian influence operation” on the territory of the Czech Republic, using the publication “Voice of Europe”, which was also blocked by the Czech authorities.

For example, it turned out that Russia not only approached MEPs, but also paid them to spread Russian propaganda here.

The EP said it was analyzing the situation.

As IQ has already written, in mid-March, EP members Rasa Juknevičienė, Hilde Vautmans (Belgium), Catharina Rinzema (Netherlands) wrote a letter to the President of the EP, Roberta Metsola, in which she called for an expansion of the investigation into Russian propaganda in the EP. This was prompted by the statements of Marcelo de Graaff, a well-known Russophile member of the European Parliament, which absolutely echoes V. Putin’s propaganda.

“The reports about the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia are pure propaganda,” M. de Graaff said from the EP podium in March. The MEP even stated that “Russia accepted hundreds of thousands of children from places that were bombed by Ukrainians”.

In January, the publication “The Insider” reported that Latvian representative Tatjana Ždanoka, who was elected to the EP in 2004, cooperated with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) from the very beginning, organizing the visits of their representatives to Europe. Shortly afterwards, Mr Metsola approached the EP’s Code of Conduct Advisory Committee, which opened an investigation. In February, the EP adopted the so-called “Rašageit” resolution, which states that “it is necessary for the European Parliament and the Latvian authorities to thoroughly investigate this issue (T. Ždanoka’s possible cooperation with the FSB – IQ post.) in order to immediately determine appropriate sanctions and decide on initiation of a criminal case.”

During the debate on this resolution, some members of the EP said that the information about T. Ždanokas and the FSB did not shock them, and that there are more Kremlin agents in the EP. As the MEP Petras Auštrevičius stated, even some of the assistants of the MEPs have the Kremlin’s touch.

Tamara from Rostov

Sexy dark-haired Tamara Volochova (Volokhova) proudly shares her business cards with the EP emblem. She is the spokesperson for the French delegation of the far-right Identity and Democracy group in the EP.

According to the Euobserver investigation, T. Volochova was born in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, and moved to Strasbourg in the late 2000s to study communication and public relations at the European School of Communication. Being a model, in 2012 she interned at the European Audiovisual Observatory of the Council of Europe, and in 2013 – EP in the General Directorate of Public Relations.

According to “Euobserver”, T. Volochova coordinated visits of MEPs to propaganda events organized by the Kremlin in Russia and annexed Crimea.

The following year, she interned in the right-wing Eurosceptic group of the EP, and after 2014 EP elections got a permanent job with the extreme right. According to “Euobserver”, T. Volochova coordinated visits of MEPs to propaganda events organized by the Kremlin in Russia and annexed Crimea. She has also written at least three articles from the Kremlin’s perspective on NATO, the United States, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

in 2020 T. Volochova, who describes herself as an “anti-Eurocrat”, received French citizenship, but also kept her Russian passport. The woman also ran in French local elections with Marine Le Pen’s National Union, but lost.

It is interesting that T. Volochova in 2014-2015 worked for the far-right member of the European Parliament from France, Aymeric Chauprade, with whom Yelizaveta, the daughter of Putin’s press representative Dmitry Peskov, also did an internship for several months.

“The opportunity to participate in the meetings of the EP committees that help shape the European foreign and defense policy, together with its head Thierry Mariani (T. Volochova was his assistant – IQ Post.) a place in the special Committee on Foreign Interference – an office established, among other things, for Russian interference to investigate EU affairs – poses a clear threat to the security of the EP, which requires an urgent response”, – as early as 2021. warned Euobserver.

20 friends of the Kremlin

There were more warnings about a possible network of Kremlin agents in the EP. A year ago, the publication “Novaya gazeta. Evropa” conducted a survey of MEPs’ votes and named the most pro-Putin MEPs.

“Pro-Putinist politicians in the EP can be tracked using open data: it is enough to study how each member of parliament votes when resolutions related to Russia and its allies are discussed. “Novaya Gazeta. Evropa collected data based on four years of EP voting results. Here are our insights into who, how and why in Brussels is protecting the interests of the Kremlin,” the journalists of the publication wrote.

“Novaya Gazeta. Evropa’s calculations show that parties pursuing populist or radical politics vote against anti-Putin resolutions more often than others. Some of these parties include France’s National Union, Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Greece’s SYRIZA.

There were no members of the Lithuanian EP, although MEPs Viktoras Uspakichas and Stasys Jakeliūnas have recently become famous for not supporting resolutions favorable to Ukraine and condemning Russia.

“Members of the European Parliament, who can be suspected of sympathizing with the Kremlin, often do not follow one specific tactic when voting on anti-Russian resolutions, but combine votes “against”, abstentions and refusals to participate in the votes,” the publication said.

“Novaya Gazeta. Evropa” selected the 20 most pro-Putin MEPs based on votes. There were no Lithuanian EP members in it, although MEPs Viktoras Uspakichas and Stasys Jakeliūnas have recently become famous for not supporting resolutions favorable to Ukraine and condemning Russia.

Among the 20, the first place was taken by the aforementioned T. Ždanoka, whose connections with the FSB became public this year. And Christine Anderson, a German from the AfD, in 9th place, and Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, a Croatian, in 19th place, were S. Jakeliūnas’ companions in the “crusade” against the COVID-19 vaccination.

They repeatedly appeared at various events, called on the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to resign, etc. S. Jakeliūnas and Ch. Anderson 2021 at the end of the year, the EP was publicly punished for entering the parliament building in Strasbourg without the then-required COVID-19 certificates.