Far-right is undermining European democracy and poses serious threats to our security

Appalled by the credible allegations that Members of the European Parliament were paid to disseminate Russian propaganda and by the recent arrest of AfD MEP Krah’s assistant, following serious charges of being a spy for the Chinese secret service, the Renew Europe Group reiterates its previous calls on Member States to more effectively combat all foreign interferences in the EU as our democracies are at risk.

In a resolution adopted by the plenary, our political group committed to enforce Parliament’s applicable internal sanction framework and called for any sitting MEPs or candidates in the upcoming European elections that have taken money from or been corrupted by the Russian Government or their proxies to be exposed. The far-right parties at the centre of these scandals must publicly declare without any delay their financial relations especially with the Kremlin and to publicly disclose the purpose and exact amount of all payments originating from Kremlin-linked sources.

The approved text also calls for Parliament to introduce mandatory, effective and regular training on security, interference, ethical standards, compliance and integrity for MEPs and for all the staff, together with effective monitoring and surveillance systems to detect foreign interference while respecting MEP’s freedom of mandate.

Renew Europe MEP, Nathalie Loiseau (Horizons, France), Chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, said:

“For too long, Russia and other foreign malign actors have been able to interfere in our democratic processes at European and national levels. Extremist parties at the far-right and far-left of the political spectrum have been complicit of these interferences. Not only have they defended political stances contrary to our values, but they have also been paid for it. Their economical and ideological interests run against our democracies. We call on our Member States and the European Union to do their utmost to protect the integrity of our institutions and elections.”