Two leading Belgian parties have hit back at allegations they were Russia-friendly, as the EU host-state prepares for double elections.
MEPs from the rightwing Flemish NVA party and the far-left PVDA party told EUobserver they fully aligned with mainstream Western views condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The NVA's Assita Kanko, an MEP, said on Monday (3 June): "There is absolutely no connection between the Russian regime and my political party or our candidates. We fully support Ukraine".
"Two weeks ago, I met a delegation of Ukrainian mothers in the European Parliament. I heard their stories and saw their tears, felt their pain," she added.
Marc Botenga, an MEP from PVDA, said the Russia allegations were "preposterous".
The PVDA had opposed Russian president Vladimir Putin's regime for over 20 years due to its greed and "barbarity", Botenga said.
"We firmly condemned Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine from day one ... Russia must stop its invasion and withdraw all its troops," he added.
The allegations of undue “Russian influence” in Belgium’s Flemish political scene were chronicled in a 37-page dossier circulated on Monday by a Belgian politician of Ukrainian origin, Marta Barandiy, who is running to become an MEP.
These focused on the Flemish far-right Vlaams Belang party, some of whose best known MPs and former MPs, such as Frank Creyelman and Filip Dewinter, were overtly pro-Russian.
The report raised concern the NVA could “become an ally to Vlaams Belang” after the elections and named an NVA party member who had collaborated with a Belgian far-right activist accused of Russian spy links.
It also detailed PVDA abstentions on Russia-critical motions, its MPs’ pro-Russian speeches, and its ties with “Russia-mouthpiece” academics, despite the PVDA’s officially pro-Ukrainian line.
But the NVA’s Kanko said her party would never join the same group as Vlaams Belang in the EU Parliament: “No. This point about my party is disinformation”.
And the PVDA’s Botenga said it was an “attempt to criminalise” his party’s authentic views, for instance on the need for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.
Vlaams Belang didn’t reply to EUobserver.
Vlaams Belang and the NVA have three MEPs each in the current EU Parliament while PVDA has one, with polls indicating a similar outcome in the EU election on Sunday (9 June).
Belgium, the symbolic host-state of the EU institutions, is also holding national elections on the same day, in which Vlaams Belang, the NVA, and PVDA are expected to come out as three of the biggest winners.
Barandiy’s new anti-establishment party, Voor U, isn’t on the radar.
Meanwhile, Belgium’s current government, led by Flemish liberal Alexander De Croo, has also highlighted the Russian menace in the run-up to the votes.
On 12 April, De Croo personally announced a judicial probe into allegations Russia had bribed far-right MEPs, prompting police raids in the EU Parliament in Brussels on 29 May.
Belgium has expelled dozens of Russian spies working in its embassies and consulates in Brussels and Antwerp in the past two years.
"We are exercising caution about foreign interference when it comes to this [EU election] campaign”, a contact in the Belgian authorities told this website.
"Belgium has expelled about 60 Russian diplomats,” Belgium’s homeland intelligence service, the VSSE, said.
And also on Monday, Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib laid into the Moscow-friendly Hungary, after it once again vetoed EU money for Ukraine.
Hungary should be stripped of its voting rights in the EU Council due to prime minister Viktor Orbán's illiberal rule at home and due to his "veto attitude", she told the Politico news website.
Lahbib's call saw Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó fire back on social-media platform X that she "wants to silence pro-peace Hungary," echoing the PVDA's line in Belgium.
The EU initiated a sanctions procedure against Hungary in 2018 under Article 7 of the EU Treaty on breach of basic values, with the EU Council to discuss the state of play on 25 June - one week before Budapest takes over the EU presidency until 2025.
The Austrian foreign ministry told Politico it backed Habib, but despite the public pressure on Orbán, there was no real plan afoot to advance Article 7 at the upcoming meeting or to block Hungary's EU red-carpet moment, a Belgian source told EUobserver.
And looking at the wider picture, Barandiy, the Belgian MEP-hopeful, whose NGO, Promote Ukraine, has held weekly protests outside Russia’s EU embassy in Brussels, said she was “worried”.
“All at the same time: the far right taking over the European Parliament and national parliaments, the Hungarian EU presidency, and Trump might be elected in the US,” she said, referring to Putin-friendly former US president Donald Trump.
“I’m afraid Ukraine might be pushed into negotiations by the end of the year,” she said, referring to potential capitulations to Russia.
Barandiy previously told EUobserver how she feared a break-in at her Brussels office was the work of "Russian forces."
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.
Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.