Russia using Serbian agent to infiltrate EU bodies: Western intelligence

Russian intelligence is using a Serbian agent to infiltrate EU institutions and to spread pro-Kremlin talking points about its invasion of Ukraine, according to a Western intelligence briefing seen by POLITICO.

As recently as October 2023, Serbian national Novica Antić — an active “agent of influence” who knowingly worked closely with Russia’s security agency, according to the documents — held meetings with European officials in Brussels and in particular, Members of the European Parliament.

Those MEPs included 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, according to a press release and a photo seen 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.

Moretti, Bilčík and von Cramon-Taubadel did not respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.

Antić, the chair of the Serbian Military Trade Union, also met with representatives of the EUROMIL and EPSU trade unions, which represent armed forces personnel and public services employees in the European Union, respectively. At the time of publication, POLITICO had not received a response from EUROMIL or EPSU about the meeting with Antić.

According to the Western intelligence briefing seen by POLITICO, Antić is an active “agent of influence” for Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB.

Antić works closely with an FSB associate named Vyacheslav Kalinin, a Russian national and editor-in-chief of Veteran News, a media website specializing in news for the veterans of the armed forces. An “About us” tab on the website says that Veteran News is an “information partner” of the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense, among other branches of Russia’s security forces.

Kalinin did not respond to a request for comment from POLITICO. 

While the intelligence briefing highlights Antić’s actions in particular, it noted Kalinin recruited other people, without specifying how many and within which countries.

Russia is using Serbia as a launchpad for influence operations designed to weaken pro-EU and pro-NATO sentiment inside the country as well as within the European Union, which has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion two years ago. Antić has used his role as head of Serbia’s military union to criticize Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and senior members of the country’s armed forces.

“They took every opportunity to promote Russian propaganda relating to the war in Ukraine,” the briefing said, referring to meetings in Serbia and EU countries.

The news that Antić held meetings inside the European Parliament underscores the body’s vulnerability to state-backed influence operations. Earlier this month, POLITICO revealed spyware was found on the mobile phones of two lawmakers in the European Parliament, including former French Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau, who chairs the body’s defense subcommittee. 

Antić and his representatives did not respond to a request for comment from POLITICO.

Kalinin invited Antić to Russia to meet with senior Russian military officials between 2019 and 2020. Initially focused on influencing Serbian civil society, the pair have since widened their focus to include European trade union and veterans’ organizations and, in recent months, members of the European Parliament.

Antić, an outspoken critic of Serbia’s armed forces who has fallen afoul of the country’s political leadership, is currently being detained on unspecified charges, according to news website Balkan Insight.

According to Balkan Insight, Antić has been dismissed from Serbia’s military twice over the past five years. He has, per the publication, gone on a hunger strike to protest his detention. A lawyer for Antić declined to specify on what charges he was being held.