Alarm raised in European Parliament over information leaks to Russia
A group of Members of the European Parliament has called on European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to take measures to prevent confidential information from reaching Russia.
Source: a letter published by Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius
Details: The MEPs expressed "deep concern" over recent allegations that the Hungarian government has deliberately shared confidential information obtained during EU Council meetings with Vladimir Putin's regime.
"We are concerned that similar risks of sensitive information being leaked from our work at the European Parliament exist," the letter states.
The MEPs noted that the need to address these risks has been raised repeatedly, yet no substantial changes have been implemented, forcing members to rely on their own security precautions.
"Pro-Russian MEPs with links to Putin's regime are still able to attend in camera committee meetings and hire staff without undergoing proper security or open-source screening. This enables them to collect sensitive information, including details of our military and financial support for Ukraine, and pass it on to the Russian side," the lawmakers warned.
They urged immediate and concrete steps to implement the recommendations of the INGE special committee on foreign interference, including reforms to European Parliament rules on transparency, integrity, accountability and anti-corruption measures.
They also called for ways to limit access to confidential information and official activities for certain openly pro-Russian MEPs and their offices.
The letter was signed by Petras Auštrevičius, Pekka Toveri, Thijs Reuten, Nathalie Loiseau, Villy Søvndal, Elio Di Rupo, Bart Groothuis, Markéta Gregorová, Merja Kyllönen, and Engin Eroglu.
Background:
- Earlier, The Washington Post reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had regularly shared information from EU meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, including details of potential decisions. Szijjártó later confirmed that such calls had taken place.
- Media reports have also suggested that the EU is excluding Hungary from sensitive negotiations due to concerns about potential leaks to Russia.
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