Far left and right MEPs less critical of China and Russia

The two-year-long research led by the Hungarian think-tank Political Capital Institute is based on the results of over 90 votes cast in the European Parliament from July 2019 to May 2021.

The majority of MEPs supported action against the Belarus and Syrian regimes (over 80 percent) and authoritarian practices in Chad, Haiti or Pakistan (over 90 percent).

However, MEPs tend to be more divided when voting on resolutions on China and Russia.

The report confirms that the image of China is rather "negative" in the European Parliament, which is reflected, for example, in the almost unanimous vote in favour of freezing the ratification of the EU-China investment deal.

While all mainstream groups in the EU Parliament are highly critical of China, the only open supporters of Beijing appeared to be from the leftist group The Left (formerly known as the GUE/NGL Group).

Far-right national parties, such as Germany's AfD, tend to criticise Beijing's policies, although they generally abstain in resolutions that condemn China's actions.

But, overall, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group is seen "somewhat resilient to Chinese influence" because the group's largest national party, Italy's League, is strongly critical of Beijing.

The report also notes that the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) is considered among the most China-friendly of mainstream parties, as members of the national delegation apparently coordinated to be absent during the voting of two resolutions concerning the Uyghurs and Hong Kong.

Kremlin's appeal

By contrast, Russian interests are backed by both the far-left and the far-right in the EU Parliament.

Both ID and The Left can be considered "highly vulnerable to Russian influencing efforts," the report reads, pointing out that "they regularly recite pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives in plenaries".

Broadly, all mainstream groups in the EU Parliament are highly critical of the Kremlin - but there are a few exceptions among the national delegations, such as the Latvian Russian Union in the Greens or the Estonian Center Party in Renew.

Nevertheless, MEPs from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Romania, and Bulgaria tend to be much more critical of Russia than the average.

The report shows that the Kremlin's European alliances in the EU Parliament can be changing constantly.

It points out how Italy's League's voting behaviour on Russia changed in late 2020 to become more critical - or how MEPs from France's Les Républicains have gradually become more friendly towards Russia.

According to the researchers, Russia uses its financial and natural resources to undermine European resistance or disrupt EU unity, which has been the case in the Nord Stream 2 project. The plan is supported by often Kremlin-critical parties who back the EU's sanctions policy, such as the majority of the German CDU/CSU and Austria's ÖVP.

Additionally, the report concludes that both sides of the political spectrum, not only its extremes, seem to be more defensive to regimes close to them ideologically.

For example, resolutions on Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela were approved by a narrow margin due to left-wing groups' hesitancy to support the proposals.

The resolutions on Cuba and Bolivia were rejected by the majority of members from Socialists and Democrats and the Greens. Most socialist MEPs also abstained on the resolution slamming the 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary elections to be illegitimate.

Meanwhile, the right-oriented groups were more likely to abstain on or reject a text criticising the situation of Ethiopian migrants in detention centres in Saudi Arabia.