The European Parliament has banned Russian lobbyists and company representatives from its premises.

EP president Roberta Metsola said Europe had to protect itself from the Kremlin's influence and propaganda over the war in Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine almost 100 days ago. The EU has responded with a series of sanctions and most EU member states have banned Russian media on their networks, 

"Effective immediately, Russian company representatives are no longer allowed to enter," Metsola said on Twitter. "We must not allow them any space to spread their propaganda & false, toxic narratives about the invasion of Ukraine. We will remain united & strong against autocrats," Metsola wrote. 

The parliament's liberal Renew group welcomed the move as "a blow to the Russian state propaganda machine" that would "reduce the capacity of Russia's warmongering lobbyists to influence EU politicians and policies."

Last week, the European Parliament was accused of prevaricating on barring Russian lobbyists

The euobserver website reported that political pressure had been mounting for the parliament to unilaterally strip Russian lobbyists of their access badges.

"Accreditation of lobbyists for Gazprom and other Russian state-affiliated entities should be immediately revoked," Pedro Marques, vice-president of the Socialists & Democrats group was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

His call came after the Greens, in a letter to Metsola earlier in the week, made similar demands.   

Metsola herself had made a proposal  to stop lobbyists for Russia from entering the premises of all the EU institutions.

Metsola floated the idea over 80 days ago, euobserver said. Her original plan sought to have them first removed from the EU's joint-transparency register. Being listed in the register is a requirement for any lobbyist wanting to gain official access to EU institutions.

The parliament argues the Russian lobbyists breached the register's code of conduct, citing reputational damage.