Metsola has expressed concerns over a declaration signed by Kartheiser and other MEPs with Duma members, where they agreed to “continue and deepen” cooperation. Dated June 11, Metsola’s letter notes these statements “raise serious concern” as they may “misrepresent” the Parliament’s stance.
The Parliament cut communications with Russian legislative bodies in 2014, and Russian officials have been denied access since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Metsola highlighted rules requiring MEPs to honor the body’s “dignity and reputation,” and emphasized that political group leaders agreed the existing sanctions “should not be circumvented by individual meetings.”
‘I find it odd’
Metsola also urged the EP’s advisory committee on the code of conduct to examine whether Kartheiser properly disclosed a meeting with third-country officials and travel arrangements funded by third parties, as required by transparency rules.
Upon review by the eight-member lawmaker committee, the president may impose sanctions, such as loss of daily allowance and suspension from parliamentary duties.
“I have not yet seen the letter in question, so I cannot comment on it. I find it odd that the press should receive letters concerning important matters relating to a particular MEP before the MEP themselves has received the document,” Kartheiser told POLITICO.
Kartheiser has previously refused to disclose the identity of other MEPs involved in meetings with Kremlin officials and trips to Russia. However, lawmakers from Germany’s Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, Slovakia’s Smer party, and Cypriot MEP Fidias Panayiotou were among those who visited Moscow during the Victory Day celebrations in May 2025.
The letter was initially reported by the Kyiv Independent and Luxembourger Wort.
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