On the second day of the European Parliament’s plenary session in Brussels, a discussion took place with Vera Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, regarding the readiness of EU governments to combat foreign interference, including that from Russia. PiS MEP Joachim Brudziński spoke on behalf of the ECR Group.
Joachim Brudziński recalled that the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Foreign Interference in All Democratic Processes in the European Union, Including Disinformation (ING2), had detailed Russian-led activities and operations aimed at infiltrating European democracies and EU institutions. The MEP stated that Russia employs a wide range of hybrid warfare methods to achieve its goals. Among the actions undertaken by Russia, he cited the manipulation of information through both traditional media and social media platforms, winning over elites to its side, cyberattacks on candidates who are inconvenient for Russia, and—in a move that is extremely compromising for the European Parliament—bribing MEPs and buying resolutions from them aimed, for example, at governments that expose Putin’s imperial policies. “In the European Parliament, using Russian money—and mainly at the initiative of the left side of this chamber—resolutions were drafted targeting the Law and Justice government, which, after all, was the first to rush to the aid of war-torn Ukraine,” — the Polish politician emphasized.
The MEP deemed scandalous the remarks made during the debate by one of the left-wing MEPs, who baselessly attacked public opinion in Poland and Polish farmers, claiming that opposing the influx of Ukrainian grain into Poland is evidence of Russian activities. He pointed out that farmers in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain are protesting in the same way across Europe.
“To what extent—today, ahead of the European Parliament elections—are EU institutions prepared for Russia’s destabilizing actions?” Joachim Brudziński asked Commissioner Vera Jourová. The MEP clarified that he is concerned about further hybrid operations by Russia, more fake news, and “further attacks, particularly against those governments that do not enjoy the support of the left-wing establishment, even in this House.”
