The office of an assistant to Dutch far right MEP Marcel de Graaff has been raided as part of an investigation into Russian influence within the EU, German publication Spiegel said on Wednesday.

Investigators have been searching offices in the European Parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg since Wednesday morning in connection with the affair surrounding the pro-Russian news portal ‘Voice of Europe’ which is said to be at the centre of a Russian influence operation, Spiegel said.

Spiegel correspondent Timo Lehmann said he had seen investigators entering the office of De Graaff’s assistant Guillaume P, a right-wing extremist from France, on Wednesday. According to the NRC, P is one of four members of De Graaff’s team.

P was kicked out of the Rassemblement National delegation due to an anti-Semitism scandal. He worked for AfD MEP Maximilian Krah for over three years from July 2019 before moving to De Graaff, who represents Forum voor Democratie.

According to Dutch broadcaster NOS, P’s home and office in Strasburg were also searched.

Belgian federal investigators said in a press statement that the raids are part of an investigation into “interference, passive corruption and membership of a criminal organisation… in which members of the European Parliament have been approached and paid to promote Russian propaganda.”

P played a considerable role in this, the statement said.

At the end of February, Czech news website Denik N reported that some far-right politicians in Europe had taken money to spread pro-Russian propaganda via the Prague-based news website Voice of Europe, quoting sources in the Czech intelligence service BIS.

BIS did not identify the politicians by name, but Dutch media pointed out that De Graaff, PVV leader Geert Wilders and Forum voor Democratie leader Thierry Baudet had all featured on Voice of Europe.

Home affairs minister Hugo de Jonge said later the cabinet had contacted Czech authorities, but that no names of “Dutch people or organisations” had been mentioned in connection with the propaganda channel.

De Graaff was elected to Brussels as an MEP for the far-right PVV but switched to Forum voor Democratie in 2022. He is set to lose his seat in the June 6 vote. He denies having been paid to promote Russia, the NRC said.