Tatyana Zhdanok kicked from MEP group for not condemning Russian aggression

Member of the European Parliament from Latvia Tatyana Zhdanok has become an MEP outside of any political groups, according to information from European Parliament’s website.
Previously Zhdanok was a member of the Greens and Free Alliance Group in the European Parliament. She also served as acting vice-chairman of the EP Committee on Petitions.
Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete said this is the fourth composition of the European Parliament in which Zhdanok was given a mandate.
«Every time I spoke with the heads of the green faction, I asked what this pro-Russian woman, who supported Crimea’s annexation, the war in Syria and now Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, does in the green faction?! She is expelled from the faction and is now an independent MEP,» said Kalniete, adding that Zhdanok’s influence, which was never all that high, is not close to zero.
«Soon she will be independent of all duties and posts she held in accordance with the green faction’s quotas.»
In her statement to the press, Zhdanok wrote: «I will continue working in Brussels and Strasbourg in the interest of Latvian voters who elected me to the European Parliament. Do ensure this, I will cooperate with colleagues from different political groups.»
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Zhdanok was one of the few MEPs who did not support the European Parliament’s resolution against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in March. In it, the parliament demands tighter sanctions against Russia and outlines efforts to provide Ukraine EU membership status.
According to minutes from the vote, 676 MEPs participated in the vole. 637 of them voted in favour, 13 voted against and 26 MEPs abstained in the vote. One of the MEPs who did not support the resolution was Zhdanok.
She was the only Latvian and Greens and Free Alliance Group member to have not supported the resolution. Other MEPs of this group who took part in the vote supported the resolution.