MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has slammed media allegations that Tatjana Zdanoka, a European Parliament member from Latvia, has been working for Russian special services as a "witch-hunt" resembling 1950s McCarthyism in the United States.

The Politico newspaper reported earlier that European Parliament President Roberta Metsola had initiated a probe into Zdanoka’s alleged links to Russian intelligence.

"This is a witch-hunt," Peskov stressed. "Do you remember McCarthyism in the United States - how many people were arrested and imprisoned. This is the same."

"We vehemently condemn this. Obviously, it has nothing to do with the so-called ideals of democracy as it is now interpreted in Europe," he added.

McCarthyism is a term coined after US Senator Joseph McCarthy who launched a series of probes and hearings in the 1950th in a bid to expose alleged communists working inside US government structures, including the Department of State and the Pentagon. An aggressive campaign was unleashed against pro-Soviet and left-wing intellectuals and people of culture who were publicly accused of anti-American activities.