She is the daughter of the spokesman of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Elizaveta Peskova is on an internship at the European Parliament with a French MEP, Aymeric Chauprade, reported 20 Minutes.
Former adviser to Marine Le Pen for international affairs, the MEP said that she does not have access to sensitive documents. “Elizaveta, Dmitry Peskov’s daughter, spokesman for Putin, began her internship in November 2018, and will stop at the end of April, at the end of my parliamentary activity,” explained Aymeric Chauprade, confirming information from Radio Free Europe, a media outlet funded by the US Congress.
The young woman is a law student in France and “only has access to public data” during her internship, added the MEP. She also does not have access to closed-door debates and can not participate in the work of the EU-Russia delegation.
This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the European Parliament, who said that Aymeric Chauprade “never had access to confidential documents”. Chauprade is on the Parliament’s security and defence subcommittee as well as the foreign affairs committee, where he regularly receives a number of key documents.
Chauprade is vice-chair of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group led by UK Eurosceptic Nigel Farage.
The issue of Elizaveta Peskova has ignited a fierce debate. Socialist MEP Christine Revault of Allonnes-Bonnefoy declared herself “scared” and finds it “extremely shocking”.
“The Kremlin spokesperson’s daughter is not just anyone,” she told 20 Minutes, acting surprised that “this recruitment has been validated by the services of Parliament”. But as a resident of France, she is entitled to work at the Parliament as an intern.
Faced with the controversy, Chauprade concludes on his side that “there are zero subjects from the point of view of defense security and conflict of interest”.
Peskova has been studying law in Paris. Her visit to a shipyard two years ago in Crimea was well documented in the media and she drew criticism from the likes of the BBC. Recently she has posted observations on the French Yellow Vest protests, comparing scenes in Paris to the computer game “Zombie Apocalypse”.
Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete told the BBC that there was no security clearance at the Parliament as there was at NATO.