Summary of the day
The president of the centrist Renew Europe, Valérie Hayer, has written to the president of the European parliament asking for an urgent investigation into reports that a Russian influence network had paid members of the European parliament.
Hayer also said that “we ask for full and immediate disclosure of names and numbers,” adding that “there’s no place for Putin’s agents in this House” and “we won’t let them undermine our democracies.”
The Greens have also called for an investigation into possible Russian interference attempts in Europe’s upcoming elections.
Bas Eickhout, a lead candidate for the Greens, said “we need to be sure that none of the candidates for these elections are being paid by Russians.”
Despite the controversy, a number of other political parties have yet to publicly comment on the allegations.
On Thursday, the Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, said that “we have uncovered a pro-Russian network that was developing an operation to spread Russian influence and undermine security across Europe.”
A number of European countries have indicated that they have been involved in the investigation.
Maximilian Krah, a member of the European parliament representing the far-right Alternative for Germany, has stressed that he only gave two interviews to an entity now sanctioned by the Czech Republic, out of over 200, and stressed that there is no concrete accusation that he has been paid for any interview.
'Serious - but unfortunately not surprising', Danish candidate says as concerns grow about Russian interference
Sigrid Friis Frederiksen, the lead candidate for Denmark’s Radikale Venstre, has spoken about about the ongoing controversy:
Serious - but unfortunately not surprising - that Russian forces are trying to destabilize our European democracies. Even with the help of European elected representatives, it is said. Should be a huge focus for EP2024!
Alvorligt - men desværre ikke overraskende - at Russiske kræfter forsøger at destabilisere vores europæiske demokratier. Endda med hjælp fra europæiske folkevalgte, forlyder det. Bør være et kæmpe fokus til EP2024! https://t.co/owVVzNIZMo
— Sigrid Friis (@Sigridfriis) March 29, 2024
