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The European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament is set to expel Luxembourgish MEP Fernand Kartheiser from its ranks for arranging a trip to Moscow.
Kartheiser, a former diplomat and ambassador to several European countries, is currently in Moscow where he was invited by the Russian Parliament, or Duma, to discuss bilateral relations, Russia’s relations with international organisations and the current situation in Ukraine.
“Given that the European Parliament is blocking MEPs’ diplomatic efforts to meet with the Russian Federation, I am funding this mission to Moscow myself,” he told Euronews before the two-day trip to meet members of the Russian government and Parliament.
But fellow MEPs from the right-wing group were unimpressed. “By travelling to Putin’s Russia, Fernand Kartheiser has crossed a red line for the ECR Group. We will take decisive action to terminate his group membership as soon as possible,” said ECR co-Chairmen Nicola Procaccini and Patryk Jaki in a statement shared with Euronews.
Kartheiser could be formally expelled as soon as next week during a group meeting, according to a source familiar with the party, as few MEPs are in Brussels this week. An absolute majority of votes among the group’s members is required to exclude him.
The ECR group has a firm stance on the Russian war in Ukraine, condemning the invasion and demanding full support for Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“We continue to emphasise our backing for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, defence and independence of Ukraine,” an ECR spokesperson told Euronews in a written statement on the matter.
A new push for diplomatic relations?
Kartheiser is not the first MEP to embark on a trip to Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.
While the European Parliament has suspended any ties with its Russian counterpart and no official delegation has been sent to Russia since the invasion, some of its members have travelled there in a personal capacity.
For example, five MEPs took part in the Victory Day’s parade in Moscow on 9 May: Michael von der Schulenburg and Ruth Firmenich from Germany’s radical left BSW party, Ľuboš Blaha from Slovakia’s ruling Smer party, Czech independent MEP Ondřej Dostál and Cypriot independent MEP Fidias Panayiotou.
Slovenia’s president Nataša Pirc Musar called for renewed dialogue between the EU and Russia in a recent interview with Politico, saying that EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen is “working on that”. On the matter, a spokesperson from the Commission said on Monday: “We are interested in bringing all the parties concerned together at the table, and to discuss a ceasefire, in view of achieving peace”.
