On June 7, a video was published on POSTV’s Facebook page discussing European politicians’ alleged drug addiction. The segment is titled, “What Macron was stirring with Merz’s spoon: A cheerful romance on the rails.” The report begins by reviewing a video shot on a train to Kyiv, where the leaders of France, the UK, and Germany appear. In addition, the video released by POSTV presents several claims:
- According to an investigation by The Telegraph, traces of cocaine were found in 44 out of 46 restrooms in the European Parliament;
- The video shows a European Parliament member using cocaine in the parliamentary chamber;
- USAID spent hundreds of millions of dollars on opium plantations and heroin production in Afghanistan.
The video produced by POSTV was also shared on Facebook by the political party People’s Power and the Facebook page “No to the UNM – No to Dictatorship.”
The video published by POSTV contains several false and manipulative claims about European politicians: 1) The pro-government media uses a 2005 study as evidence that drugs are used inside the European Parliament. Besides being outdated, the study does not say that the drug traces are linked to EU officials. The test samples were taken from public areas of the parliament where external visitors also have access; 2) Jens Maier is not a member of the European Parliament, nor is he using cocaine in the video. He is a politician from Germany’s far-right party AfD, and he is sniffing powdered tobacco; 3) USAID’s grants in Afghanistan did not support opium plantations or heroin production. In fact, aid allocated between 2005-2008 aimed at the opposite. However, after the rehabilitation of agricultural land and irrigation systems, Afghan farmers used them to expand narcotic crop cultivation.
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POSTV uses a 2005 study on the discovery of cocaine traces in the European Parliament
To support its claim that drugs are used in the European Parliament, POSTV relies on a 2005 study. The outlet attributes the investigation to the British newspaper The Telegraph, though in reality, it stems from a journalistic investigation by the German television network Sat.1.
In 2005, the TV channel Sat.1 conducted an investigation to detect drug traces in the European Parliament building. According to the investigation, journalists used wet wipes to collect test samples from surfaces in 46 restrooms and other public areas of the Parliament. Ten of the samples were found to contain “significant amounts” of drugs. Later, the producer of the program stated, “We understand that the European Parliament building is open to all members of the public. We do not wish to point our fingers at any individuals or professional groups.”
The Telegraph covered the Sat.1 investigation in an article, reporting that traces of cocaine were found in 41 of the 46 samples taken from public areas of the European Parliament. The Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research Institute in Nuremberg, which analyzed the samples, noted that the levels of cocaine were quite high and that quantity of drugs could not have ended up in the building accidentally. According to experts, the cocaine must have been brought in by employees, visitors, or officials. The Telegraph article also quoted a laboratory professor saying that finding cocaine traces in such a building was not surprising and that any test conducted in a public space would likely yield positive results. The same article clarified that the television network did not accuse MPs of drug use, since the samples were taken from parts of the building accessible to visitors.
The Independent, another British outlet, commented that MEPs typically have private restrooms attached to their offices, making it unlikely that they would use public restrooms for drug consumption. The editorial also noted that finding drug traces in the Parliament was not surprising, given the large number of young political aides and the fact that parts of the parliamentary complex are open to the public. As for the EU’s response, The Independent published a comment from the then-Speaker of the European Parliament: “We do not take this seriously because we believe it is not serious. We were not contacted officially, and we do not think these tests have been conducted in a thorough manner. We have contacted our medical services, who say the findings are too high to be credible statistically. They do not teach drug testing at journalism school,” the statement reads.
Thus, the study conducted by Sat.1 is outdated and does not reflect the current situation. Moreover, the investigation does not prove that Members of the European Parliament use drugs inside the parliament building.
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The man shown in the video is neither a Member of the European Parliament nor using cocaine
In one episode of POSTV’s report (at 17:33), the journalist says:
“Those who are too lazy to go to the restroom sniff cocaine right in the plenary hall – for example, in the European Parliament. This is former German judge Jens Maier. First, he sorts the substance, then sniffs it with professional skill and smiles contentedly in the chamber, where he later raises his hand to sanction the Georgian Dream.”
The man shown in the video is indeed a German politician, Jens Maier, who puts a dark-colored substance on his hand and sniffs it. Jens Maier is a former judge and former member of the Bundestag. According to the Bundestag’s website, he is affiliated with the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). Parliamentary records show that his last participation in a vote was in 2021. In 2022, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified him as a far-right extremist, and he was removed from his judicial post. At the time, the Minister of Justice stated that Maier could no longer be considered a credible representative of the judiciary. Notably, Maier has never been a member of the European Parliament. Therefore, as POSTV claims, he could not have voted to sanction the Georgian Dream party.
The video of Maier has previously circulated on social media. At the time, he was also falsely identified as an MEP and accused of using drugs during a parliamentary session. The claim was fact-checked by Myth Detector, which established that the dark substance Maier was seen sniffing was not a drug. The video is taken from a Bundestag session on November 19, 2020, and Maier is sniffing snuff – finely ground tobacco – which is legal in Germany.
Several other fact-checking organizations have also analyzed the same video. Fact-checkers from Euronews confirmed that Maier is sniffing snuff and pointed to one of his interviews. When asked by a German television station about his weaknesses, Maier replied, “My biggest weakness is fried potatoes and snuff.”
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USAID assistance in Afghanistan did not involve funding opium cultivation or heroin production
In the same POSTV report (at 9:40), the journalist claims that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded opium plantations and heroin production in Afghanistan. Similar claims about USAID began to spread after the U.S. government temporarily suspended foreign aid and began reviewing USAID operations.
An identical claim was previously fact-checked by Myth Detector. The claim was spread manipulatively based on an article published by Breitbart, which cited a report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). Contrary to the claim, the article does not state that USAID funded opium production. In reality, between 2005 and 2008, USAID allocated aid for “alternative development projects” aimed at deterring Afghan farmers and traders from cultivating and trading opium. While the project was not fully successful, USAID did help improve or rehabilitate irrigation systems to increase the amount of agricultural land. These improved irrigation systems were later used by Afghan farmers to grow poppies and increase heroin production.
Thus, USAID did not fund drug cultivation in Afghanistan. However, some of its development projects, particularly those related to irrigation, unintentionally contributed to the expansion of opium cultivation.
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