Police searches in European Parliament offices in Belgium, France amid Russia influence probe
The home of a parliamentary staffer in the Belgian neighborhood of Schaerbeek was also searched, Ukrinform reports with reference to Euronews.
The searches are part of a sprawling probe into a Russian influence operation suspected to have paid sitting Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda from the heart of EU institutions in Brussels.
The Belgian prosecutor says the EP employee played a “significant role” in a suspected Russian propaganda operation which infiltrated the European Parliament.
The raid is linked to a case involving "interference, passive corruption and membership of a criminal organization," prosecutors added.
Asked for an official statement by Euronews, the European Parliament's press services said: "We can't comment on ongoing investigations."
The search is the latest development in an ongoing investigation into Dutch-listed news company Voice of Europe, sanctioned by the European Union earlier this month for peddling the Kremlin's propaganda.
The news company claimed to provide "uncensored news from Europe and the world" and as recently as this March held one-on-one interviews and debates with sitting MEPs broadcasted from the European Parliament in Brussels and in Strasbourg.
In late March, Czech authorities announced it had busted a Russian influence operation conducted through Voice of Europe, alleging financial transactions had been made to elected officials in the European Parliament and in national parliaments.
According to Czech media citing officials from intelligence services, the allegations involve politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Hungary.
One of the MEPs interviewed by the so-called media was Anders Vistisen, who's been representing the European Parliament's far-right faction - Identity and Democracy (ID) - in debates ahead of June's European elections.
The latest development in the investigation comes just days before some 370 million EU voters head to the polls to elect new members of the European Parliament, in a vote much feared to be the target of the Kremlin's interference.
