Western intelligence agencies have claimed that Russia is using a Serbian agent to infiltrate EU institutions and spread pro-Kremlin propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine. Politico reported this.
According to intelligence, Serbian citizen Novica Antić is an active “agent of influence” of the Russian Federal Security Service, known as the FSB.
Antić met with European officials in Brussels, including members of the European Parliament, in October 2023, according to the documents seen by the media outlet.
Serbian national Novica Antić, an active “agent of influence” who knowingly worked closely with Russia’s security agency, held meetings with European officials in Brussels and, in particular, Members of the European Parliament.
German Greens lawmaker Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Italian Socialists & Democrats lawmaker Alessandra Moretti, and Vladimír Bilčík, a Slovakian member of the conservative European People’s Party Group, were among those MEPs, as reported by Politico. There is nothing in the intelligence briefing to suggest that Moretti, Bilčík and von Cramon-Taubadel were aware of Antic’s FSB links when they met with him.
However, the intelligence briefing states that there is no indication that Moretti, Bilčík, and von Cramon-Taubadel were aware of Antic’s FSB connections.
In addition, Antic, the head of the Serbian Military Trade Union, met with representatives of EUROMIL and EPSU, which represent the interests of military and civil service employees in the European Union.
Antic works closely with FSB officer Vyacheslav Kalinin, a Russian citizen and editor-in-chief of Veteran News, a media site specializing in news for armed forces veterans.
The “About Us” section of the website states that Veteran News is an “information partner” of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, as well as other Russian law enforcement agencies.
Kalinin invited Antic to Russia to meet with senior Russian military leaders in 2019–2020. Their initial goal was to influence Serbian civil society, but they later expanded their scope to include European trade union and veterans’ organizations, as well as, in recent months, members of the European Parliament.
The intelligence service added that Kalinin also recruited other people, without specifying how many or in which countries.
Antic, in particular, used his role as head of Serbia’s military alliance to criticize President Aleksandar Vucic and the country’s top leadership of the armed forces.
They actively promoted Russian propaganda related to the war in Ukraine during meetings in Serbia and EU countries.
Antic is currently in custody on unspecified charges.
