Czech Republic: Russian propaganda network paid European politicians, name Baudet is mentioned

Voice of Europe, a news site operating from Prague, paid several European politicians hundreds of thousands of euros last year to take positions against the EU and Ukraine. The website was run by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Algemeen Dagblad reported.

The Russian propaganda network has been shut down by the Czech intelligence services. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala confirms that cash from Moscow has been used to bribe European politicians. News site Denik N. mentions FvD leader Thierry Baudet and FvD MEP Marcel de Graaff as those involved.

Denik N. reports, based on sources at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that politicians were paid by Voice of Europe with Russian money. Politicians are said to have been approached from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Hungary and Poland. The right-wing nationalist German party Alternative für Deutschland is mentioned by name.

PVV leader Geert Wilders is shocked by the news. On X he writes: “Totally unacceptable. Today I want an additional arrangement of activities and possibly a debate in the House of Representatives about this.” GroenLinks-PvdA asks for clarification from the Dutch authorities.

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Voice of Europe

Baudet previously spoke up for Russia in the war against Ukraine in an interview with Voice of Europe. The FvD leader does not provide a substantive response when asked. “Haha,” he replies to questions from ANP.

Of the current Dutch MEPs, De Graaff speaks most often at Voice of Europe. He regularly distributed the articles on the site via social media. In an interview from October last year, he said, among other things, that Europe can only become a serious power bloc by working together with Russia.

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De Graaff, who always stands up for Russia and Ukraine and criticizes the West, calls the reporting “pure slander” from parties that allow themselves to be fooled by American propaganda. He states that he is only looking for peace, “and to spread that message we do not need any payments.”

‘Incredibly worrying’

“It is incredibly worrying,” says chairman of employers’ organization VNO-NCW Ingrid Thijssen in Good Morning Netherlands on NPO 1. “We know that Russia is trying to exert influence and undermine the democracies in Europe. This is another confirmation of that. It is difficult to get to the bottom of it all, but we have to be super focused on it.”

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