Brussels, 29 March 2024
The President of Renew Europe, Valérie Hayer, has written to President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, calling for the launch of an immediate and transparent investigation, in cooperation with national authorities, to uncover the scale of the influence operation conducted by Russia within the European Parliament and allegations of potential corruption. Disciplinary action must be swiftly taken against any MEPs or candidates involved.
Renew Europe has also tabled a request for an urgent debate in the European Parliament, accompanied by the adoption of a resolution, to discuss “Allegations of Russian interference in the work of the European Parliament and foreign interference in the European elections”, in the presence of the European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová and the Council.
Speaking on the way back from Kyiv, after discussing the ongoing threat of Russian disinformation around the European elections with President Zelenskyy, President of Renew Europe, Valérie Hayer said:
‘I am deeply concerned about the recent revelations of a Russian spy network causing massive damage to the EU, especially in the context of the upcoming European elections. While we congratulate the authorities who uncovered the operation, a full and transparent internal investigation by the President of the European Parliament is now needed. If sitting MEPs or candidates in the upcoming European elections have taken money from the Russia Government or their proxies, they must be exposed and action taken. European voters need to know if their MEPs or candidates in the upcoming elections are working with the support of Russia or its proxies. Democracy in Europe must be defended from external threats at all costs.’
Nathalie Loiseau, Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence, said:
‘This information comes as a shock if not a surprise to many of us, who have repeatedly raised the alert on Russian interferences in our Parliament. The very existence of such corruption efforts and even more so the affirmation of Prime Minister De Croo in front of the Belgian national parliament that some of these efforts were successful seriously hurts the reputation of our institution.’
Note to Editors: Please read here President Hayer’s full letter.
Source: Renew Europe