Source: Russia co-opts far-right politicians in Europe with cash, officials say – The Washington Post
The Czech probe rapidly expanded into Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and France, European security and intelligence officials said, as investigators concluded that Voice of Europe represented far more than its official veneer as a pro-Russian website interviewing favored European politicians about ending aid to Ukraine.
The organization was being used to funnel hundreds of thousands of euros — up to 1 million a month — to dozens of far-right politicians in more than five countries to plant Kremlin propaganda in Western media that would sow division in Europe and bolster the position of pro-Russian candidates in this week’s European Parliament elections, according to interviews with a dozen European intelligence officials from five countries. Most of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing and sensitive investigation.
After the expulsion from Europe of dozens of Russian intelligence officers following the invasion of Ukraine, fronts such as the Voice of Europe became instruments for the Kremlin to regain lost ground, one of the senior European intelligence officials said.
2023 年 5 月，当俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京最亲密盟友之一的一位工作人员在布拉格创办了一家亲克里姆林宫的媒体机构时，捷克反情报官员开始密切关注。 欧洲情报官员表示，近一年来，捷克当局秘密记录了来自欧洲各地的几位极右翼政客与负责运营宣传网站“欧洲之音”，叫阿尔乔姆·马尔切夫斯基雇员之间的数小时会面。会面包括在布拉格市中心一条安静小街的办公室。欧盟和捷克当局关闭了该网站，并将“欧洲之音”标为俄罗斯宣传机构。 欧洲安全和情报官员表示，捷克的调查迅速扩大到比利时、德国、荷兰、波兰和法国。调查人员得出的结论是，“欧洲之声”所代表的意义远不止其是一个亲俄网站的官方假象，采访希望停止向乌克兰援助的欧洲热门政界人士。 根据对来自五个国家十几名欧洲情报官员的采访，该组织被用来向超过 5 个国家的数十名极右政客每月输送数十万至上100 万欧元，以便在西方媒体上植入克里姆林宫的宣传，从而在欧洲播下分裂的种子，并巩固亲俄罗斯候选人参加本周的欧洲议会选举地位。大多数官员都要求匿名，以讨论正在进行的敏感调查。 一位欧洲高级情报官员表示，在入侵乌克兰后，数十名俄罗斯情报官员被驱逐出欧洲，“欧洲之声”等组织成为克里姆林宫收复失地的工具。
