Documents that became available to Re:Baltica show that at least since 2004 Latvian MEP Tatyana Zhdanok has been reporting to the officers of the Russian Federal Security Service about her activities. She also requested funding for various events. Zhdanok denies having ties to the Russian special service and calls her contact a childhood friend, Re:Baltica reports.
“I’ll be arriving at MIDI at 12:40 on Wednesday. I’ll be leaving at 17:30.”
“Very good, I’ll be there – let’s meet on the platform. If we don’t find each other, let’s meet at the main entrance.”
Re:Baltica notes that this e-mail exchange between Latvian MEP Tatyana Zhdanok (Latvian Russians Union) and Russian citizen Dmitry Gladei happened in autumn 2006. The location where they planned to meet is the railway station in Brussels. Two years prior to that – following Latvia joining the European Union – Zhdanok became a fully fledged MEP.
Gladei, who is now 74 years old, is no simple Russian citizen. He previously served in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). His “visible” objective in the last decade was representing Russia in election monitoring organisations, which legitimised problematic elections in countries within Russia’s range of interests, in which actual international organisations found problems, the study mentions.
More available in Re:Baltica study: here.
Also read: Week in Lithuania | China stops issuing visas to Lithuanians, MG Grupė appeals verdict in political corruption case
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Re:Baltica: Zhdanok was working for Russian special services, leaked e-mails reveal
