Latvian MEP accused of being Russian spy tracked by gardai during Donegal visit

A Latvian politician who has since been accused of being a Russian spy was monitored by high-powered gardai during a visit to Donegal in 2023.

Latvian MEP Tatjana Ždanoka spent three days in Donegal, arriving in late October, as part of a fact-finding mission into defective concrete blocks.

Last week, it was alleged, in a piece published in The Insider, an indecent outlet in Russia, that Ždanoka has been working with Russian intelligence since as far back as 2004. Ždanoka has denied the links.

Having been made aware that Ždanoka had become a ‘person of interest’ in Latvia, officers from the Garda National Crime & Security Intelligence Service (NCSI) were tasked with tracking her movements and meetings during her visit to Donegal.

According to The Sunday Times, the officers would have monitored Ždanoka’s ‘movements, whom she might have met, things like that’.

The NCSI’s main role is said to be ‘to identify and analyse the threat to the State from terrorists and organised crime gangs’.

It is unlikely that gardai in Donegal were made aware of the surveillance that was placed on Ždanoka.

The 73-year-old visited with a group that also included MEPs Dolors Montserrat (Spain) and Sira Rego (Spain) as well as Irish MEPs Colm Markey, Maria Walsh, Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan and Chris MacManus.

Ždanoka was one of 13 MEPs who voted against a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Insider, following a joint investigation with outlets in Latvia, Sweden and Estonia, claimed to have seen emails that showed Ždanoka has openly advocated for Moscow. Correspondence is said to have taken place with two men who are described as ‘handlers’ from Russian FSB Intelligence, a successor to the KGB.

The Europan parliament is investigating the allegations with the parliament’s advisory committee on the code of conduct set to look into the matter.

Ždanoka has denied the claims.

“I will not be intimidated by false accusations,” she said on social media. “I and like-minded people continue and will continue to use the platform of the European Parliament to fight neo-fascism.”