Russian spies

There are more Russian spies in EU Parliament, Latvian lawmakers say

“We are convinced that Ždanoka is not an isolated case,” three MEPs wrote in letter about espionage obtained by Brussels Playbook.

BY JAKOB HANKE VELA AND NICOLAS CAMUT

There’s more than one.

As the European Parliament investigates a Latvian lawmaker suspected of being a Russian spy, her co-nationals in the chamber are warning there are others like her.

“There are other MEPs … knowingly serving Russia’s interests,” wrote Sandra Kalniete, Roberts Zīle and Ivars Ijabs, from the center-right European People’s Party, right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists and liberal Renew respectively, in a letter obtained by POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.

Parliament on Monday opened an internal probe into Latvian MEP Tatjana Ždanoka after an independent Russian investigative newspaper, the Insider, reported she had been working as an agent for the Russian secret services for years.

Ždanoka has denied those claims.

She was one of just 13 MEPs who in March 2022 voted against a resolution condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which caused her to be expelled from the Greens/EFA group. Ždanoka now sits as a non-attached MEP.

“We are convinced that Ždanoka is not an isolated case,” the three Latvian MEPs wrote, citing concerns over suspicious “public interventions, voting record[s], organised events, as well as covert activities.”

“The Greens/EFA group must bear a degree of responsibility for long-term cooperation, financial support, and informational exchange with Ždanoka from July 2004 till March 2022,” the group added.

The Latvian Socialists did not sign the MEPs’ letter — and there are no Latvian Greens in Parliament after Ždanoka’s expulsion from the group.

The Greens/EFA group released a statement Tuesday saying it was “deeply concerned” about the allegations and asked for Ždanoka to be banned from Parliament for the duration of the probe.