Press Release:
EXCLUSIVE | EU paid €600,000 to journalists’ network immediately following the EU elections
Schriftliche Frage im Monat April 2025 Nr. 04-0032
Current Status:
The EU Commission paid exactly €604,269 to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) journalists’ network immediately after the 2024 European elections. This is according to a response from the EU Commission to AfD MP Petr Bystron.
According to the Research Center for Security and Geopolitical Studies, the U.S. government provides approximately half of OCCRP’s budget through entities like the Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).
In Germany, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, and Süddeutsche Zeitung, among others, belong to the OCCRP network. Officially, the funds are intended to “promote investigative journalism.”
Critics, however, see this as partisanship, as OCCRP media outlets portrayed EU-critical politicians as alleged “Moscow agents” before the election without any evidence. Politicians in six EU countries were affected. AfD candidate Bystron was also targeted. Citing the media reports, the Munich public prosecutor’s office conducted 23 searches of his home – so far without any results. However, the reporting influenced the election results and thus the composition of the European Parliament. The affected parties lost valuable percentages, and some politicians, such as Dutchman Thierry Baudet, even lost their seats in the European Parliament.
Doubts about the independence of the OCCRP have long existed. According to revelations by Mediapart, the network received almost $50 million from the US over the years, partly through direct influence on personnel and policy decisions. Furthermore, in 2019, OCCRP was involved in the campaign that triggered impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. In 2019, the Austrian government, with the participation of the FPÖ, collapsed following the “Ibiza Affair” launched by OCCRP media. The FPÖ fell from 26% in the polls to just 17.2% in the final election results.
The payments now raise questions: Why is the EU funding a network that has been involved in election interference and political campaigns in the past?
Position
MEP Petr Bystron:
“The biggest media scandal in post-war history is brewing here. The EU funds were allegedly used to “support investigative journalism.” This is a mockery, because the OCCRP media did exactly the opposite – they spread negative information about EU-critical politicians without verification and completely uncritically – in a campaign-like manner.
The OCCRP media manipulated the last two EU elections with massive campaigns. Their reporting influenced election results, severely damaged EU-critical politicians, and overthrew governments. The goal was always to eliminate EU-critical politicians.”
September 9, 2025
For inquiries: Bernadette Conrads | [email protected]
