Media reports in Latvia claimed the country’s VDD state security services had formally opened a criminal investigation into Tatjana Zdanoka, a member of the European Parliament, on suspicion of espionage.
Zdanoka is accused of having worked with Russia’s FSB security services since she was elected to her Strasbourg post in 2004.
A January 29 report released by Latvian, Estonian and independent Russian journalists claimed to present email communications between her and her suspected handlers that would appear to substantiate claims that she was working as a Russian agent.
Latvian news agency LETA reports that the VDD made the decision to investigate Zdanoka on February 22.
The European Parliament also opened an investigation into Zdanoka’s Russian connections after receiving reports that she had been operating as a Kremlin agent for years.
The 73-year-old Latvian citizen denies the accusations against her.
After an early career that saw her advocate against Latvian independence and then for a coup against the government of the Latvian SSR, Zdanoka has consistently advocated for much closer ties between the Baltics and Russia, and against NATO.
In Strasbourg, she has shown support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea; and on March 2, 2022, she was one of only 13 European Parliamentarians refusing to condemn Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — a stance that saw her ejected from the European Greens-European Free Alliance bloc.
Zdanoka, whose website lists her as president of the EU Russian-Speakers’ Alliance, an NGO, has also been criticized for backing disputed elections inside Russia as well as in separatist regions in Ukraine.
Photo: Tatjana Zdanoka, a Latvian member of the European Parliament
