With only two weeks left until election day, the candidate for Venstre (Liberal Party of Denmark) in the EU Parliament, Alexandra Sasha, has chosen to withdraw from the election. Sasha announced her decision on Facebook, explaining that it is due to a series of media stories that have led to an intense smear campaign against her. Alexandra Sasha, who has Russian roots, denies accusations of being a “lackey for Putin.” She writes on Facebook that for weeks she has been subjected to false statements and unpleasant interpretations, which have had both physical and psychological consequences.
The decision comes after media outlets such as Ekstra Bladet and especially B.T. have published several articles about Sasha, who is not well-known to the general public. B.T. has, for example, reported that Alexandra Sasha has been a member of the board of the European Russian Forum’s youth organization. According to Flemming Splidsboel, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (Diis) and an expert in Russian affairs, the European Russian Forum has the character of being a pro-Russian and Putin-friendly “influence forum.”