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STRASBOURG, 8 February 2024 - MEPs today approved a resolution drawing attention to Russian interference in Europe's democratic processes. The text calls for appropriate measures to be taken against certain Russian individuals and entities to ensure the security of the European Union. Particularly in the context of this year's 'big elections', including the European Parliament elections, more effective responses are needed at national and European level to combat Russian interference in electoral processes. Pirate MEP Markéta Gregorová has long warned against this threat of foreign interference.
The text is critical of Russia's substantial funding of political parties and politicians and close relations with them in a number of European countries. "I am pleased that the new resolution against Russia explicitly mentions one of Putin's key hybrid strategies against the EU, which is to fund European far-right parties in order to undermine public support for Ukraine, which is a victim of Russian aggression. The people who continue to support these parties and movements and who have looked up to Vladimir Putin should realise that he only sees them as useful idiots in his war," comments Gregorová on the newly approved resolution.
Russia has long used a number of different methods of interference as part of a wider strategy to damage, weaken and divide Member States - one of which is the funding or outright bribery of various individuals and organisations operating in Europe. The institutions and the Member States must make significant investments in strengthening our democratic resilience and the rule of law in order to protect the legitimacy of elections.
"As we are facing several important elections this year, including the European Parliament elections in June, it is necessary to arm ourselves against Russian interference in democratic processes. In the past, Russia has sought to undermine the integrity of elections or to support certain candidates in a number of countries through cyber-attacks, social media bots and the spread of disinformation. We need to be prepared for this and set up workable mechanisms to make us resilient," Gregorová concludes.
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