Luxembourgish MEP leads recruitment drive for trip to Russia

BRUSSELS — A right-wing Luxembourgish politician is leading a drive to recruit fellow members of the European Parliament to travel to Russia, according to a letter seen by POLITICO.

In the letter, Fernand Kartheiser — who was kicked out of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the Parliament last year over a previous trip to Moscow — asks any interested EU lawmaker to contact his office directly about the trip, which would include a meeting “in person” with members of the Russian State Duma on June 3.

The meeting is slated to take place on the margins of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an annual gathering frequently attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Despite limiting his public appearances of late, the Russian leader, who was born and raised in St. Petersburg, is due to participate in the forum this year, according to his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

“Assistance with finding suitable accommodation can be provided, and personalized invitations to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum will follow in due course,” reads the letter, which was sent to a broad list of EU lawmakers.

Kartheiser’s outreach is controversial due to restrictions on cooperation between the European Parliament and its Russian counterpart. The European Parliament officially suspended official dialogue with Russian parliamentary bodies in 2014, while Russian and Belarusian officials have been barred from accessing the European Parliament since shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There have been 20 rounds of EU sanctions against Russia.

None of this has deterred Kartheiser, who traveled to Moscow last June despite facing expulsion from the ECR group. In response to questions from POLITICO, Kartheiser defended his St Petersburg trip — which he said was privately funded — saying its relevance was “undisputable.”

“More and more high-level European politicians call openly for a renewed dialogue with Russia on ministerial level, in Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Croatia, etc,” he wrote in response to emailed questions. “So it is only a question of time until the EU policy will change.”

However, Kartheiser declined to say which lawmakers, if any, had expressed interest in joining his trip by a May 6 deadline. “I have a strict line of conduct,” he wrote. “I do not communicate any names, numbers or political affiliation. Indeed, participants might face negative consequences (as it happened to me) so I remain silent.”

Petras Auštrevičius, a Lithuanian lawmaker with the centrist Renew Europe group, called the recruitment push “an open attempt to recruit” MEPs “for working for Russia as informants, influencers and more.”

He added that the push was an attempt to “weaken the West” under the guise of “political diplomacy.”

EU lawmakers do not face penalties if they have personal contacts with Russians or travel to Russia. Kremlin-friendly EU leaders have visited Russia, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is due to travel to Moscow in May. However, top EU officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief EU diplomat Kaja Kallas, shun direct contact with Russian officials, arguing that Moscow is not serious about pursuing peace with Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the European Parliament said that lawmakers “who engage with Russian diplomatic or governmental entities are acting in their sole personal capacity.”