We examined 16 European Parliament resolutions critical of Russia — and identified EU lawmakers who have consistently shown their true colors.
June 6, 2024
By HANNE COKELAERE and ELISA BRAUN
POLITICO
With the EU election under way, POLITICO has looked at the data to find out which MEPs have been the Kremlin’s top allies in the European Parliament.
Parliament resolutions critical of Moscow have typically been supported by a large majority of MEPs, on topics such as the Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border and the poisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
But a small group has steadfastly opposed the anti-Russia texts, abstained, or missed the votes.
POLITICO examined lawmakers’ voting records on 16 resolutions since 2020 and compiled a list of the 30 lawmakers that withheld their support the most.
Two-thirds of the MEPs listed are running for re-election this week. The bulk are far-left and far-right MEPs from the Identity and Democracy and The Left groups, most others are non-attached.
Among their ranks is Tatjana Ždanoka, who has been accused of spying for Russia. The Latvian MEP, who is not standing for re-election, has denied the accusation, saying: “Yes I am an agent, an agent for peace.” The Parliament conducted its own probe and found her in breach of the MEPs’ code of conduct, fining her €1,750.
Maximilian Krah, the controversial lead candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany, who’s stopped campaigning and relinquished his AfD leadership role after a series of scandals, didn’t support any of the texts criticizing Russia. Other AfD lawmakers largely matched his voting record.
Marcel de Graaff, a Dutch politician who quit the ID group over what he said was an anti-Russian position and whose assistant is embroiled in a Russian propaganda probe, voted “no” in every anti-Russia vote he attended.
Irish left-wing pair Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, who face an uphill battle to get re-elected, voted against a resolution in the European Parliament calling for the establishment of a tribunal to prosecute Russia’s leadership for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. A 2022 investigation by the Irish Times revealed that the MEPs have been covered widely in state-controlled media in Russia, China and elsewhere, largely cast as supporters of the policies of those governments.
Daly has defended her stance against sanctions by taking aim at the EU’s saber-rattling. “It might sound radical, colleagues, but the answer to war is not more war, it’s peace, and peace isn’t
delivered by the barrel of a gun. It’s delivered by diplomacy, by dialogue,” she said in April 2022.
The voting records also reveal deep divisions within groups.
In the ID, AfD lawmakers abstained or opposed most of the texts (the AfD was kicked out of ID in May because of Krah’s actions), while lawmakers from France’s National Rally backed just one-quarter of them.
But lawmakers from Italy’s League largely supported the anti-Russia texts and Denmark’s Anders Vistisen, who has represented the ID group in pre-election debates, has only recorded abstentions and “Yes” votes.
The voting record suggests that some lawmakers have softened their stance, increasingly opting for abstentions rather than “no” votes as Russia’s war in Ukraine dragged on.