The note consulted by “Le Soir” also mentions China as well as two other countries widely cited in the corruption scandal within the European Parliament revealed by “Le Soir” and “Knack”: Morocco and Qatar.
By Marine Buisson and Louis Colart
Lhas Russia been guilty of interference in Belgian political life? The subject worries in any case the Belgian intelligence services, as indicated by a note that The evening got hold of this Friday. From 2014 to today, 554 investigation reports concerning Russian interference have been written by State Security.
The European Union under siege, ready to mount the barricades
In the wake of a note from American intelligence (made partially public in early September) concerning suspicions of Russian interference in more than 24 countries, the President of the Chamber Eliane Tillieux asked the Standing Committee R to look into the state of the threat. If in their report, the American intelligence did not specify the names of the countries concerned, we learned there that Russia had spent approximately 500,000 dollars to support a candidate of the Democratic Party of Albania and that it would also have financed parties or candidates in Montenegro, Bosnia or Madagascar. Also according to the report, the Kremlin would use Brussels as a center from which many foundations and structures support far-right candidates. The aim of the maneuver: to weaken democracies and give a serious boost to “friendly” political movements or parties, considered favorable to Russian interests, often located on the far right of the political spectrum.
Concretely, what does the note of the Committee in charge of the control of the Belgian intelligence services say? That the problem of Russian interference pointed out in the American report is not new. It has been of interest for several years to the services which pay particular attention to it during election periods. That undeniably, political life in Belgium (and, in the broader sense, in Europe, due to the presence of intuitions on its soil) can be the subject of attempts at Russian interference. It is within this framework that, from 2014 to today, 554 investigation reports concerning a threat of Russian interference have been drawn up by State Security.
Moreover, if the State Security considers to have “solid” information on Russian interference, no concrete element in the possession of the investigators would demonstrate today that Belgian political parties are structurally financed by foreign powers. . Because Russia is not the only nation to be monitored by the intelligence services in Belgium: other foreign powers carry out actions of this type – considered as threatening. The note consulted mentions in particular China as well as two other countries widely cited in the corruption scandal within the European Parliament revealed by The evening and knock
: Morocco and Qatar.
