Starting in 2016,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

has made efforts to influence

European politics The politics of Europe deals with the continually evolving politics within the continent of Europe. It is a topic far more detailed than other continents due to a number of factors including the long history of nation states in the region as ...

, in particular, to promote Russian goals, to undermine support for

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, and to destabilize

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. An important organization in these efforts is the Voice of Europe, a media outlet led by

Viktor Medvedchuk Viktor Volodymyrovych Medvedchuk (; born 7 August 1954), also known as Viktor Vladimirovich Medvedchuk (), is a former Ukrainian lawyer, business oligarch, and politician who has lived in exile in Russia since September 2022 after being handed ...

and Artem Marchevsky. The Voice of Europe was established in May 2023, headquartered in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. Early investigations by

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

authorities determined that the Voice of Europe was one of several uncovered influence operations on European politics. In 2024 the Czech Secret Intelligence Service (BIS) uncovered a Russian state-financed pro-Russian influence network with the public outlet Voice of Europe, using

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

and

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

politicians to influence the

European elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until 2019, 751 ...

and other elections. The network is suspected to have bribed several European politicians from different countries.

History

In 2016, a website with the name "Voice of Europe" was created in the Netherlands by an entrepreneur who “worked with” far-right leader

Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch politician, author, and self-declared Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD), for which he has been a memb ...

“to bring about the Ukraine referendum,” a Dutch newspaper wrote, referring to a nonbinding vote in which Dutch voters opposed a political association agreement between Ukraine and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. In 2023, Voice of Europe was relaunched and from then on had an address near

Wenceslas Square Wenceslas Square (Czech language, Czech: , colloquially ''Václavák'' ; German language, German: ''Wenzelsplatz'') is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town, Prague, New Town of Pr ...

in Prague. In March 2023, a Polish businessman, Jacek Jakubczyk, took over all shares in the company in the legal form of a s.r.o. In May 2024, Voice of Europe, which is run by

, was sanctioned by the European Union. News reports published by the Voice of Europe have stated that foreigners are responsible for more than half of all serious crimes in

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a contin ...

and that French President Macron's campaign on the Russian danger is not appealing to French voters, according to recent polls. ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' has reported that the DGSI was investigating a pro-Russian campaign towards the European elections next June.

Investigations, sanctions, and reactions

Voice of Europe has been on sanctions lists since March 2024. Although its financial assets have been frozen, the news site can continue to operate. In March 2023, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged that Voice of Europe was a "Russian influence operation" designed to "undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

Politicians involved with Voice of Europe

Voice of Europe has provided a media platform for several far-right Eurosceptic parties. The politicians typically promote viewpoints such as: opposing the

European Green Deal The European Green Deal, approved in 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. The plan is to review each existing law on its climate meri ...

, predicting the imminent collapse of the European Union, or attacking Ukraine. Politicians promoted by the Voice of Europe include: *

, Dutch FvD. Baudet was interviewed by the Voice of Europe and systematically denied receiving donations, notably during a parliamentary debate on an exit from the European Union. *

Filip Brusselmans Filip Brusselmans (born 30 October 1997) is a Belgian politician and political activist. Early life Brusselmans was born in Sint-Niklaas. He studied political science at the University of Antwerp where he became active in the Katholiek Vlaams Ho ...

, Belgian politician and political activist. *

Petr Bystron Petr Bystron (born 30 November 1972) is a Czech-born German politician. He is a member of the Bundestag since the German federal election in 2017 for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Bystron moved to Germany with his parents ...

, German

AfD Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), ...

, candidate for European Elections 2024. In April 2024 the Munich Public Prosecutor's Office initiated preliminary investigations because of possible bribery of elected officials. According to

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

, the Public Prosecutor Office suspected 20,000 euros were handed over at a meeting between Bystron and employees of Russian propaganda in Prague. *

Filip Dewinter Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter (born 11 September 1962) is a Belgian politician, journalist and commentator. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party. Family back ...

, Vlaams Belang party *

Matteo Gazzini Matteo Gazzini (born 9 July 1985) is an Italian politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament for Lega (political party), Lega and Forza Italia (2013), Forza Italia from 2022 to 2024. In December 2023, he left Lega per Salvini Prem ...

, Italian

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

, former

Lega Nord Lega Nord (LN; ), whose complete name is (), is a right-wing politics, right-wing, federalism, federalist, populism, populist and conservatism, conservative list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy. In the run-up to the 201 ...

. He gave ''Voice of Europe'' an interview and participated in a panel debate alongside other MEPs. He denied being offered or taking any money. *

Maximilian Krah Maximilian Eugen Krah (born 28 January 1977) is a German lawyer and politician for right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD). He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 until March 2025 when he became a member of ...

, German AfD, top candidate for European Elections 2024 and already MEP.

Payments to far-right European politicians

Authorities in Germany and the Czech Republic determined that Russia used the Voice of Europe organization to provide funds to far-right, Eurosceptic, politicians (mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Hungary, and Poland) to influence European elections in favour of positions against Ukraine and the European Union.

References

{{Disinformation 2024 in Europe Belgium–Russia relations Czech Republic–Russia relations

France–Russia relations Germany–Russia relations Hungary–Russia relations Netherlands–Russia relations Poland–Russia relations Russia–European Union relations

History

Investigations, sanctions, and reactions

Politicians involved with Voice of Europe

Payments to far-right European politicians

See also

References