The European Parliament sanctioned Tatjana Zdanoka, a Latvian MEP who was accused in media reports this year of having spied for Russia, according to Politico.
In January, Russian investigative newspaper The Insider reported that Zdanoka had for years been working on behalf of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the Soviet-era KGB. Zdanoka denied the allegations, telling MEPs in February she was merely an “agent for peace.”
The Latvian secret service has launched a criminal case against her, local media reported in March.
The Parliament opened its own administrative probe into the MEP, and President Roberta Metsola announced Wednesday a series of sanctions against Zdanoka, having found her in breach of the MEPs’ code of conduct.
Zdanoka, who has been an MEP since 2004, and sat with the Greens/EFA group until 2022, breached parts of the code relating to declaring private interests and receiving gifts, Metsola said, without giving more details.
The sanctions will consist of a five-day fine of her daily allowance, amounting to €1,750 and she will also be banned from certain roles representing the European Parliament until the end of this mandate in July, after which she is not expected to be an MEP any longer. Ždanoka did not appeal, Metsola added.
Since the allegations against Zdanoka emerged, the Parliament has been rocked by another Russian influence scandal involving a Czech media outlet called Voice of Europe which according to Czech secret services paid European politicians, including MEPs, as part of a plan to peddle Russian propaganda.
Zdanoka did not immediately respond to a request to comment sent by email.
