Attitudes towards Russia in the European Parliament vary according to country and ideology, new data published on Thursday (23 June) suggests, with parties from the far-left and far-right the most sympathetic to the Kremlin.
Data compiled by the Votewatch thinktank, aimed at measuring levels of “assertiveness towards Russia” and based on a sample of over 280 votes in the European Parliament, found that Polish, Lithuanian, and Romanian MEPs had voted for the toughest actions, while French, Greek and Cypriot MEPs had taken a softer, more accommodating stance towards Moscow.
The Votewatch data also indicates that the parties that take a softer and more sympathetic stance towards Russia tend to come from the far-left and far-right of the political spectrum.
These include lawmakers representing the communist parties of Portugal, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic and the Irish from Independents 4 Change), but also Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, together with Czech and Dutch nationalists from the far-right.
Le Pen’s party has borrowed around €10 billion from Russian banks to fund its election campaigns, while Le Pen herself faced controversy during this year’s presidential campaign over a leaflet featuring her shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The data also throws up some surprises.
For example, despite the reluctance of Viktor Orban’s Hungarian government to agree on EU sanctions, his Fidesz party MEPs have joined opposition Hungarian EU lawmakers in voting critically of the Kremlin. So, too, have Matteo Salvini’s Lega party in Italy, despite Salvini’s good personal relations with President Putin.
However, the most critical of Russian policy tend to be conservative parties from the Eurosceptic European Conservative and Reformist (ECR) group, particularly the Sweden Democrats and Spanish VOX, as well as most parties in the centre-right European Peoples Party.
Also significant is the voting behaviour of Germany’s two main parties, the Social Democrats, who lead the governing ‘traffic light’ coalition, and the Christian Democrats. Both have voted against measures related to the Nord Stream gas pipeline built by Russia’s Gazprom, which has since been suspended,
Attitudes within the Parliament have changed in recent months as the extent and impact of the Russian invasion has become clearer.
Votewatch pointed out that the latest resolutions voted by the Parliament have been supported by most far-left deputies, a change since votes before and just after the start of the conflict. Meanwhile, support for NATO has also increased across much of Europe, in addition to the membership applications made by Finland and Sweden.
In the meantime, Russia has stepped up its political and diplomatic outreach since it invaded Ukraine. However, a parliamentary debate on the role of the Russian government and diplomatic network in influencing parties of the European extreme right and extreme left originally scheduled for Thursday was postponed.
Lobbyists from companies including Gazprom, Lukoil, and Rusal, which have already been banned from entering the European Parliament, are now set to lose their credentials to lobby EU leaders and officials in the European Commission and Council.
The move was made by the outgoing French presidency of the EU Council, which last week informed national diplomats that representatives of Russian interests would be suspended from the EU’s transparency register.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Source: euractiv.com
