In March, Czech authorities sanctioned the Prague-based Voice of Europe website over allegations that European politicians collaborated with the outlet, using their influence to discourage support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Two executives of the channel, including Viktor Medvedchuk, a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were hit with sanctions.
Voice of Europe interviewed Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s leading candidate in June’s European elections, and Petr Bystron, second on the AfD’s candidate list. Both politicians deny any wrongdoing, AfD spokesman Daniel Tapp told Bloomberg.
Bystron specifically denied claims that he took money to spread pro-Russian information. “At no time have I received payments in cash or cryptocurrencies from any employee of the Voice of Europe (or from any Russian),” Bystron wrote in a letter addressed to the management of the Voice of Europe. ‘AfD, according to media reports.
Concerns have been raised in recent months about the extent of Russian influence in European institutions in the run-up to June’s European elections. “The risk for the upcoming European elections is that bad actors like foreign actors and Russia will try to blend into people’s online spaces when their guard is down,” said Jiore Craig, senior researcher in digital integrity at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. , an NGO working on disinformation.
On Friday, Belgium opened a criminal investigation into this alleged disinformation network. Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre De Croo said unnamed MEPs had been paid to promote Moscow’s agenda.
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTION SURVEY
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