Journalists from several countries conducted an investigation, as a result of which they established that the FSB recruited a European representative from Latvia.
The European Parliament has commented on the accusation of Latvian MEP Tatyana Zhdanok of having connections with the Russian FSB. In particular, EP leader Roberta Metsola said she takes them “very seriously”, which is why she is referring the matter to the Code of Conduct Advisory Committee. This was said in a commentary at the request of DW by the official representative of the head of the European Parliament, Yuri Lass.
“This means that an investigation has been launched in the European Parliament,” the official explained.
According to him, Metsola will bring this issue up for discussion on January 31 at the conference of leaders (the political body of the EP responsible for relations with other EU institutions and national parliaments).
The European Parliament refused to comment on Tatyana Zhdanok’s accusations, but indicated that these accusations had already been reported in the past in the country represented by the deputy, that is, in Latvia.
“We emphasize that all members of the European Parliament are subject to the same rules (Electoral Act 1976, the Statutes of the European Parliament and the internal rules of the European Parliament) regarding the independence of the mandate and ethics, and all member of The European Parliament is responsible to the voters,” said the EP press service.
The decision to remove an MEP from office is made by the competent authorities in his country.
According to a joint investigation by Re: Baltica, The Insider, Delfi.ee and Expressen, the Russian FSB recruited MEP from Latvia Tatyana Zhdanok, who represents the Russian Union of Latvia party. Investigators say that Zhdanok passed information to curators from the FSB and asked them for money to carry out the events.
Zhdanok himself said that he allegedly did not cooperate and does not cooperate with the intelligence services.
It was previously reported that Tatyana Zhdanok, at least since 2005, reported her activities to employees of the Federal Security Service of Russia and asked them for funds for holding events.
Russia creates conditions for escalation against Latvia – ISW
New Correspondent.net on Telegram and WhatsApp. Subscribe to our channels Athletistic and WhatsApp
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.