Critics, however, see partisanship, since before the election OCCRP-affiliated media portrayed EU-critical politicians as alleged “Moscow agents” without evidence. Politicians in six EU countries were affected. AfD candidate Bystron also came under scrutiny. Citing the media reports, the Munich public prosecutor’s office carried out 23 searches at his premises—so far without results. The coverage, however, influenced the election outcome and thus the composition of the European Parliament. It cost the affected parties valuable percentage points, and some politicians—such as the Dutch politician Thierry Baudet—even missed out on entering the European Parliament.
Doubts about OCCRP’s independence have existed for a long time. According to revelations by Mediapart, the network received nearly $50 million from the United States over the years, in some cases with direct influence on staffing and editorial decisions. OCCRP was also involved in the campaign that triggered impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump in 2019. In 2019, following the “Ibiza affair” reporting launched by OCCRP-affiliated media, the Austrian government with FPÖ participation collapsed. At that time, the FPÖ fell in the EU election from 26% in the polls to just 17.2% in the final result.
The payments now raise questions: Why is the EU funding precisely a network that in the past was involved in election interference and political campaigns?
On this, Petr Bystron, a Member of the ESN Group, states:
“A major media scandal of the postwar era is brewing here. The EU funds allegedly flowed for ‘support of investigative journalism.’ That is a travesty, because the OCCRP media did exactly the opposite—they spread negative information about EU-critical politicians unchecked and completely uncritically—as part of coordinated campaigns.
With massive campaigns, the OCCRP media manipulated the last two EU elections. Their reporting influenced election results, severely damaged EU-critical politicians, and toppled governments. The goal was always to eliminate EU-critical politicians.”
