According to the evidence gathered by the Belgian public prosecutor’s office, ‘members of the European Parliament were contacted and paid to disseminate Russian propaganda’. On Wednesday 29 May, searches were carried out at the offices of a ‘collaborator’ of the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg, as well as at his home in Brussels, as part of the investigation into suspicions of Russian interference, announced the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office

The evidence suggests that ‘members of the European Parliament were approached and paid to promote Russian propaganda via the “news website” Voice of Europe’, the institution said in a statement.

‘The evidence indicates that the European Parliament staff member in question played a key role in this affair’, the same source added. The investigation, which was opened last April, concerns suspected Russian interference, notably via the Voice of Europe website, and corruption of MEPs.

Getting ‘pro-Russian candidates’ elected in the European elections This legal procedure was launched after the Czech intelligence services uncovered a network financed and directed by Moscow, which was disseminating pro-Russian propaganda, particularly about Ukraine via the Voice of Europe website.

Belgium then indicated that, according to its services, some MEPs ‘had received money’ to relay messages from Russia. ‘Moscow’s objectives are clear: to help elect more pro-Russian candidates to the European Parliament in the June elections and to strengthen the pro-Russian discourse within this institution, which is extremely worrying’, stressed the Belgian Prime Minister.

The Voice of Europe website was recently placed on an EU sanctions list and banned from broadcasting.