European Parliament members demand action to stop leaks to Russia

A group of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) has called on European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to take urgent measures to prevent confidential information from being accessed by Russia.

The appeal, outlined in a letter published by Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius, expresses “deep concern” over recent allegations that the Hungarian government deliberately shared sensitive information obtained during EU Council meetings with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

“We are concerned that similar risks of sensitive information being leaked from our work at the European Parliament exist,” the letter states.

The MEPs noted that these risks have been repeatedly raised but remain insufficiently addressed, forcing parliamentarians to rely on their own security precautions.

“Pro-Russian MEPs with links to Putin’s regime are still able to attend in-camera committee meetings and hire staff without undergoing proper security or open-source screening. This enables them to collect sensitive information, including details of our military and financial support for Ukraine, and pass it on to the Russian side,” the lawmakers warned.

The letter calls for immediate implementation of recommendations from the European Parliament’s INGE special committee on foreign interference, including reforms to rules governing transparency, integrity, accountability, and anti-corruption.

The MEPs also urged measures to restrict access to confidential information and official activities for openly pro-Russian MEPs and their offices.

The letter was signed by Petras Auštrevičius, Pekka Toveri, Thijs Reuten, Nathalie Loiseau, Villy Søvndal, Elio Di Rupo, Bart Groothuis, Markéta Gregorová, Merja Kyllönen, and Engin Eroglu.

Earlier, The Washington Post reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had regularly shared information from EU meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, including details of potential decisions. Szijjártó later confirmed that such calls had taken place.

It has also been reported that the EU is excluding Hungary from sensitive negotiations due to concerns about potential leaks to Russia.

By Vafa Guliyeva