The Kremlin appears to have bribed European politicians to adopt more accommodating positions towards Russia. He did so through a secret lobbying organization that was controlled directly from the Russian parliament. This was stated by the investigative group OCCRP based on the analysis of hundreds of leaked emails.
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The Kremlin apparently bribed European politicians to take a more accommodating stance towards Russia (illustrative photo) | Photo: Michaela Danelová | Source: iROZHLAS.cz
OCCRP claims that leaked emails from the International Agency for Contemporary Policy organization shed light on the operation of Russia’s covert lobbying in European politics. According to her, it was controlled directly from within the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.
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The leaked electronic correspondence belonged to parliamentary worker Sargis Mirzakhanyan, who led the organization after Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. With the help of a built-up network of analysts, journalists and other people, he helped promote the Kremlin’s interests in the matter of anti-Russian sanctions or the annexation of Crimea.
According to investigative journalists, Mirzakhanyan’s group offered money to European politicians, for example, to introduce pro-Russian proposals in their legislatures.
It also paid far-right activists to publish pro-Kremlin articles and organized trips to Crimea for European politicians and businessmen, with the Russian side covering the costs.
In April 2016, Mirzachanjan sent a colleague a document listing nine European politicians from Austria, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland who were to attend the Yalta International Economic Forum – along with “fees” totaling 21,500 euros (approximately 512,000 crowns).
Kohlíček’s participation
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, former Czech MEP Jaromír Kohlíček also participated in the forum, who in his statements to the Russian media repeated the Russian view on sanctions and the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
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In the leaked documents, the former Member of the European Parliament from the KSČM is mentioned in connection with a “fee” payment of 5,000 euros (almost 120,000 crowns at the time). According to the Investigace.cz server, it is not possible to verify whether he actually received it from a Russian lobby group, as he died in 2020.
The OCCRP further states that Mirzakhanyan’s lobbyists had a specific budget to get European politicians to propose or vote for pro-Kremlin resolutions. For example, they planned for Italian senator Paolo Tosato and Austrian parliamentarian Johannes Hübner, both from far-right parties, to introduce a resolution in their legislatures to lift sanctions against Russia.
The budget stated, among other expenses, that “in the event of a successful vote” each of the politicians would receive a bonus. Politicians did present proposals, but their parliaments did not approve them. But it is not clear whether the money has been paid. Both lawmakers denied this.
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