“Voice of Europe” sanctioned
Authorities unmask pro-Russian propaganda platform
March 27, 2024, 9:30 p.m
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The Prague-based Internet portal “Voice of Europe” presents itself as a news site, but gives a lot of space to right-wing extremist politicians. They are said to have received a lot of money from Russia for their performances. Half a dozen intelligence services were involved in the unmasking.
In a large-scale influence operation by Russia before the European elections, hundreds of thousands of euros are said to have flowed to Moscow-friendly politicians in several EU countries. According to information from “Spiegel”, the money was either handed over in cash at personal meetings in Prague or transferred via cryptocurrency.
The Czech government had made it public that it had uncovered a “Russian-financed influence network”. It placed the Prague-based Internet portal “Voice of Europe” as well as two business people close to the Russian president who are said to be behind the medium on its sanctions list. The network is said not only to have spread pro-Russian propaganda, but also to have provided “covert financial support to selected people among the candidates for the European Parliament elections.”
According to “Spiegel” information, half a dozen European intelligence services were involved in unmasking the Russian influence operation. According to the Czech daily newspaper “Deník”, politicians from six European countries are said to have been paid by the Russian network, including Germany, France, Poland and the Netherlands. The AfD is also explicitly mentioned, but no names of individual politicians are mentioned.
On the pro-Russian platform “Voice of Europe” you can find, among other things, interviews with the AfD Europe’s top candidate Maximilian Krah and the AfD politician Petr Bystron, who is in second place on the list. Krah told the magazine that he gave “Voice of Europe” two interviews, one of them in Prague. “Of course I didn’t get any money for it, neither for myself nor for the party.” Bystron initially did not respond to inquiries, nor did the now sanctioned “Voice of Europe” portal.