Bulgarian politician and journalist Elena Yoncheva has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2019. She is affiliated with the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party. Based on her political activities and statements, some consider her pro-Russian and her stance on Russia is complex.
As an MEP, Yoncheva has said that sanctions against Russia do not work and are not favorable to both sides. She advocated for discourse with no meddling in the other states’ sovereignty. In 2022, she opposed the EU Parliament’s resolution of 23 November 2022 entitled “Recognizing the Russian Federation as a state sponsor of terrorism”.
Incredibly, Yoncheva denied claims that in November 2019, she had supported the introduction of sanctions on the Kremlin by supporting the resolution of the European Parliament on the latest actions by the Russian Federation against Lithuanian judges, prosecutors, and investigators who are working on examining the dark events of 13 January 1991 in Vilnius.
In her remarks, she commented:
“On the issue of sanctions against Russia, I have repeatedly expressed my position that they should be abolished because they harm both sides and are ineffective. Problems should be resolved through dialogue, and sanctions interrupt effective communication. But respecting the people of a country does not mean being uncritical of its government. I am against politically motivated persecution of magistrates, of judges from another country. And I believe that this position should be defended.”
Regarding the issue of arming Ukraine and her stance on the war, Elena Yoncheva praised her party member Radev as the politician with “the greatest public trust” and reiterated the traditional party position, stating that supplying Ukraine with weapons only leads to further escalation of hostilities.
MEP has more than once adopted some pro-Russian standings in the European Parliament in line with the BSP party perspective. For example, in February, Yoncheva and the four MEPs on the BSP list abstained from voting in the vote on the EU Parliament’s resolution on the so-called ‘Russiagate’ probe, which threatens lawmakers’ immunity if they are found to be spying for Russia.
Yoncheva has consistently opposed sanctions against Russia. She has also refrained, or not voted, on most of the votes linked to international issues involving Russia and China. The MEP states that sanctions against Mosce need to be lifted because they are inefficient and disadvantageous. She stressed that disputes should be resolved via discussion, without interfering with the sovereignty of other states.
