The third-largest alliance of parties in the European Parliament, the right-wing nationalist Patriots for Europe (PfE) group, on Wednesday said searches had been carried out at "administrative offices" at the European Parliament buildings in Brussels and Strasbourg.
PfE said the searches appeared to be tied to the long-running probe into alleged misuse of funds by members of the now-disbanded Identity and Democracy (ID) Group.
PfE formed out of the ashes of ID, losing and gaining some members along the way, after the last European Parliament elections in 2024.
What did the investigative body say about the searches?
The European Public Prosecutor's Office — the independent body that investigates and prosecutes crimes against the EU budget, such as corruption or misuse of EU funds — said it searched premises in France and Belgium.
It said this was part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European Union funds by a former European Parliament group.
EPPO did not say which group was involved and said it would not publish further details for now for fear of compromising the investigation.
What did the PfE say about the searches?
PfE, meanwhile, confirmed the activity around its offices but also tried to stress its distance from the case since its rebrand and reformation — even though its constituent political parties are largely the same with the notable exception of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) now being excluded.
"Since this morning, the European Public Prosecutor's Office has been carrying out searches in administrative offices at the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg. It would appear that these searches are linked to the complaint lodged against the Identity and Democracy Group (ID) dissolved in 2024," it wrote in a statement.
"The Patriots for Europe Group emphasizes that there is no legal continuity with the ID Group and that it is not involved in the ongoing investigations," it said.
A French member of the European Parliament for the Rassemblement National or National Rally (RN) party, Jean-Paul Garraud, said that "the offices of staff members of the former Identity and Democracy group" were targeted.
What were the details of the ID misuse of funds probe?
European Parliament auditors concluded last year that ID members had misused at least €4.3 million (roughly $4.8 million) in EU funds during the previous legislative term from 2019 to 2024.
According to their report, the money flowed to companies close to the group and to associations supporting anti-abortion campaigners.
The case was reminiscent of, but separate from, the conviction against RN leader Marine Le Pen, herself a former MEP, that for a time looked set to stifle her bid for the French presidency.
Appeals court clears way for Le Pen's presidential bid
The ID group existed for one term in the European Parliament, from 2019 to 2024. It included France's RN, Germany's AfD, Austria's Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Italy's Lega, among other members.
It fell apart after major internal friction during the 2024 European election campaign, not least because of dissatisfaction within the group with their lead candidate Maximilian Krah of the AfD over a number of issues — from controversial remarks about Nazi Germany through to allegations of his close allies being Russian and Chinese influence, with one of Krah's aides since convicted of spying for China.
RN, FPÖ and Lega are part of the new PfE group, which claims "no legal continuity" to the dissolved ID alliance, but the AfD was not invited to join the PfE.
PfE has 85 seats in the 719-seat European Parliament, making it the third-largest group in the chamber, but a rather distant third behind the center-right European People's Party (184) and the center-left Socialists and Democrats (135).
The European Parliament relies heavily on such groupings, which try to unite political parties from various member states with broadly comparable policy positions and political alignment.
The AfD set up a much smaller splinter far-right grouping called Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), with just 27 seats, 15 of them held by the AfD.
Edited by: Sean Sinico
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