- Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has said that Brussels will investigate possible Russian meddling in the upcoming European Parliament elections. Voice of America
- De Croo's announcement on Friday comes after the country's intelligence service confirmed the existence of alleged "pro-Russian interference networks," which he claimed had been planning to undermine support for Ukraine. CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)
- Belgian agencies are collaborating with Czech authorities after a Czech probe found that European Parliament members were offered money in exchange for promoting pro-Russian views. Le Monde.fr
- De Croo has called for a meeting of the EU's Agency for Criminal and Justice Cooperation and suggested that the EU's anti-fraud office, or OLAF, should direct the investigation. Reuters (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Though he said that the alleged bribes weren't paid in Belgium, he didn't reveal the names of the suspected individuals, including Belgians, involved in the probe. The European-wide elections will take place on June 6-9. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)
Pro-establishment narrative:
- The threat of Russian interference in the upcoming EU election is extremely worrying and must be taken seriously by the Belgian government as well as the rest of the EU. Russia is working its hardest to weaken EU support for Ukraine and maliciously serve its interests by tampering with the bloc's democratic process.
AL JAZEERA (LR: 2 CP: 1)
Establishment-critical narrative:
- Russia isn't attempting to meddle in the European Parliament elections, and to suggest otherwise is Western propaganda. There are organic political movements within European countries to scale back on support for Ukraine. The fact that support for Ukraine is wavering and pro-Russia candidates are becoming more popular isn't evidence of Russian interference.
AOL
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 25% chance that Ukraine will join the EU before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)