Germany. “Spiegel”: European politicians were to receive hundreds of thousands of euros from Russia

“At first glance, Voice of Europe looks like an ordinary news website on the Internet. The logo is decorated with a wreath of European Union stars, the design is in the dark blue color of the EU,” writes the “Spiegel” portal in the article “European politicians were supposed to receive hundreds of thousands of euros from Russia.” .

However, “a lot of space is occupied by polarizing topics, especially those that far-right parties like to discuss: farmers' protests against the governments in Germany and Poland or migration to Europe,” says “Spiegel.”

He adds that in numerous interviews Voice of Europe “gives the floor to right-wing populists and far-right politicians.” A member of the French National Rally, a representative of the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang, as well as representatives of the German Alternative for Germany (AfD) appear, we read.

On Wednesday, the Czech government added Voice of Europe and its alleged sponsors to the sanctions list. According to “Spiegel”, the goal of the network is to influence politics in European countries in the interests of the Kremlin.

However, Czech authorities have made even more serious accusations against the media company and its network. Voice of Europe was also intended to serve as a tool for secretly financing candidates in European elections who are favorable to Moscow. According to Spiegel, the money was transferred either in cash during personal meetings in Prague or transferred via cryptocurrency. “The amount is said to be several hundred thousand euros,” we read in the article.

According to a German website, “half a dozen European secret services were involved in exposing the Russian influence operation.”

“The Voice of Europe website also contains numerous interviews with AfD politicians,” emphasizes “Spiegel”. For example, Maximilian Krah, an AfD MEP and the party's main candidate in the upcoming European elections, spins a conspiracy narrative about the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in a 45-minute video interview marked “exclusive”.

Member of the Bundestag Petr Bystron was interviewed by Voice of Europe in February. He criticized the German government, which is not interested in farmers and at the same time sends billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine. Krah and Bystron “have been attracting attention for years with their passion for Russia and other authoritarian states,” the portal notes.

Krah told Spiegel that he only gave two interviews to Voice of Europe, including one in Prague. “Of course, I did not receive any money for this, neither for myself nor for the party,” he assured. He also claims that he also paid for the hotel himself. Bystron did not respond to the portal's questions, nor did Voice of Europe.

According to “Spiegel”, in March 2023, a Polish citizen took over all shares in the company behind Voice of Europe. He left his address in Warsaw with a notary. There is a security company at the address that deals with the protection of people and buildings, we read.

After discovering a suspicious Russian influence operation in Europe, the German government fears further attempts by Moscow to deepen divisions in society and undermine trust in institutions. – The Federal Republic of Germany also remains an important target of Russian influence operations – a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs explained on Thursday. She added that German security authorities will continue to do everything in their power to investigate and prevent alleged influence operations.