MEPs have backed a report calling on the EU and member states to adopt a “zero-tolerance” approach to transnational repression.
The report was adopted on Tuesday by 434 votes in favour, 128 against and 104 abstentions, the parliamentary press service announced.
Transnational repression was described in the text as deliberate acts or threats by states and authoritarian regimes — or state-linked entities and proxies — to threaten, silence, coerce or harm people living abroad, as well as their support networks and family members.
MEPs said these actions pose a threat to democracy and the protection of human rights, and amount to foreign interference.
The report said a lack of a clear definition of transnational repression contributes to under-reporting and can limit policy responses, and it called for a common definition to be adopted by the European Commission, the Council and EU countries and used across EU policies and instruments.
Proposed steps: training, data and an EU coordinator
Targets can include dissidents, journalists, activists, academics and members of diaspora communities, as well as their families, according to the European Parliament.
MEPs proposed better data collection to monitor and report transnational repression in the EU and globally, along with specialised training for law enforcement and other relevant agencies on identifying and responding to it.
They also called for measures to share best practice between member states and floated the appointment of an EU coordinator to help develop a wider strategy, including action against digital threats, abusive Interpol “red notices” — requests to locate and provisionally arrest people pending extradition — and “consular coercion”, which the report described as pressure from embassies and consulates.
“For many people living in exile in Europe, distance doesn't guarantee safety. Authoritarian regimes actively seek to silence critics beyond their own borders,” the report’s rapporteur, Hannah Neumann, said in the statement published by the European Parliament.
