The leaders of Belgium and the Czech Republic are warning their European Union partners to take urgent action to prevent Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections
, after the two countries’ intelligence services uncovered evidence of attempts to bribe EU lawmakers. “We simply cannot allow Russia to get away with such a blatant attack on our democratic institutions and principles,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and his Czech counterpart Peter Fiala said in a letter, as EU leaders held a summit in Brussels on Thursday. “We must arm ourselves against this, both at national and European level,” they wrote.
De Croo said that while the money had changed hands outside of Belgium, the political influence was happening in his country. Belgium currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency and is home to the bloc’s institutions as well as the headquarters of NATO. He and Fiala want their partners to beef up the mandate of Europe’s anti-fraud agency and the EU public prosecutors’ office.
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