Belgian and Czech leaders exhort the EU to react amid concern over Russian election interference

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of Belgium and the Czech Republic are warning their European Union partners to take urgent action to prevent Russian interference in June’s Europe-wide elections. The two countries’ intelligence services have uncovered evidence of attempts to bribe EU lawmakers. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and his Czech counterpart Peter Fiala say that Russia must not be permitted “to get away with such a blatant attack on our democratic institutions and principles.” They want EU leaders meeting Thursday to beef up the mandate of Europe’s anti-fraud agency and the EU public prosecutors’ office. De Croo says, “we can’t wait until after the elections to take action when we know that the results might be influenced.”