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Scandal erupts in the European Parliament/ Latvian MP, Moscow's spy for 20 years?

2024-02-06 13:36:10Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Scandal erupts in the European Parliament/ Latvian MP, Moscow's spy for 20
Tatjana Zhdanoka

Pandora's box in the European Parliament is opened by the case of the Latvian MP, Tatjana Zhdanoka, who was discovered to have been a spy for Moscow for almost 20 years.

The news exploded like a bomb in European circles with international media reporting that it is a scandal and that the case of this Latvian "Mata Hari" is not the only one. The EU has already launched an investigation to shed more light on her role as a spy.

Since at least 2003, Zhdanoka has worked to shut down one-on-one meetings with Russian intelligence services, from Moscow to Brussels, according to several international media outlets, which refer to her e-mails.

She also allegedly solicited funds from intelligence officers and shared initiatives and press releases on several occasions with the Kremlin, according to the investigation.

While the European Parliament has put it "in the eye", Latvian MPs are warning that there are other Russian spies who have joined their ranks.

"We are convinced that Zhdanoka is not an isolated case," wrote Sandra Kalniete, Roberts Zīle and Ivars Ijabs in a joint letter, according to Politico.

"There are also other MEPs... who consciously serve the interests of Russia. There are public interventions, voting records, organizations, as well as secret activities", wrote the three MPs.

The head of the legal affairs committee and a Spanish lawmaker, Adrian Vazquez Lazara, called for a review process to determine what policies allowed Zhdanokan to work for so many years under the noses of European security services.

"It would be unacceptable if there were MPs paid by the Kremlin and working to destroy European democracy from within," said Lazara on social networks. "Any connection with Russia and its satellites must be exposed and neutralized."

It is no coincidence that a few days ago Estonian officials arrested a professor accused of spying for Russia. Last year, a former secret service agent was sentenced to prison for passing sensitive information to Russia.

In 2022, German authorities arrested a man in Germany's foreign intelligence service for sharing secrets with Moscow. In 2017, a Hungarian member of the European Parliament was accused of spying for the EU on behalf of Russia. Of course there are other examples, from Austria to Poland.

Bill Evanina, a former senior US counterintelligence official who served as head of the National Security Center, pointed out: "Russia spends a lot of time, effort and resources recruiting members not only of NATO countries, but also of neighboring countries, intelligence services and political bodies".

At the same time, counterintelligence leaders are trying to identify who is vulnerable to possible recruitment by enemy intelligence agencies, including NATO countries.

Once Russia's war in Ukraine began in 2022, he points out, European countries collectively expelled around 400 Russian spies, according to Britain's MI6 secret service. “When I was in charge in my old role, part of my job was to be the head of counter-intelligence for NATO. We would always discuss the recruitment of Russia, not only in Brussels and Belgium and in and around NATO, but also in host countries."

Zhdanoka has represented Latvia in the European Parliament from 2004-2018, as well as from 2019 until now. But behind the scenes, she secretly contacted two operators, according to investigations by The Insider website.

Initially, she was working with a man named Dmitry Glenday, but in 2013, her manager appears to have changed — Glenday introduced her via e-mail to a man named "Sergei Krasin," according to the investigation. Both were said to be officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) – formerly the KGB.

In her e-mail, she allegedly sent information she described as "reports" and occasionally mentioned her apparent duty to collect the information she had promised.

In her e-mail, she allegedly sent information she described as "reports" and occasionally mentioned her apparent duty to collect the information she had promised.

Responding to the accusations, she claimed to have met "thousands of people". When asked for comment about her second retainer, she admitted she knew Glenday, citing a meeting with him in the 1970s, The Insider reported.

"I can't consider this text as questions being asked because it's based on information you're supposed to have, which by definition you shouldn't have," Zdanoka told The Insider.

Zhdanoka has long supported pro-Russian views. She was one of the international observers in Russia's 2014 "Crimea referendum", a referendum which the Kremlin used to seek legitimacy in its illegal annexation of Crimea. The process is widely considered illegal. In 2022, she was one of the few MPs who voted against the European Parliament's condemnation of the Russian occupation of Ukraine.

"Today's spies have a slightly different approach," Evanina told the Daily Beast website, adding: "In the modern day, recruitment has evolved and is a little different than it used to be."

Now, it is not entirely clear what happens to Zhdanoka, as she has parliamentary immunity.

Posted on the European Parliament's website, Zhdanokan's biography, 74, lists her as President of the EU Russian-Speaking Alliance, a non-governmental organization, since 2007.

In Riga, Latvia's security agency, VDD, said it planned to investigate Zhdanoka's alleged cooperation with Russian intelligence and security services.

In a statement, the "VDD" agency emphasized that "until 2016, the legislative framework of Latvia did not foresee criminal liability for assistance to a foreign state or foreign organization directed against the Republic of Latvia". 


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