Four people charged with offering Qatari bribes to EU officials | European Union

[ad_1]

Belgian prosecutors investigating allegations that Qatar sought to influence EU policy by bribing European Parliament officials have charged four people with money laundering, corruption and participation in a criminal organisation.

The charges, announced on Sunday, came two days after police arrested six people and seized computers, mobile phones and €600,000 (£515,000) in cash during searches at 16 properties across Brussels.

According to the Belgian federal prosecutor, officers examining one of the largest alleged corruption cases in the parliament’s recent history believe that a Gulf state – identified by Belgian media as Qatar – used bribes and gifts to try to influence decisions in the legislature.

Although the public prosecutor’s office did not identify the four by name, a judicial source told AFP they included Eva Kaili, an MEP for the Greek Social Democratic PASOK party who serves as one of the parliament’s 14 deputy speakers.

The prosecutor’s office said the home of another member of the European Parliament was searched on Saturday evening.

“It is suspected that third parties in political and/or strategic positions within the European Parliament have received large sums of money or made large gifts to influence Parliament’s decisions,” the office said in a statement.

“Four people have been arrested by the investigating magistrate in Brussels who is leading the investigation. They have been charged with participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. Two people have been released by the investigating magistrate.”

A Qatari official denied the accusations of possible misconduct and said his country was operating in full compliance with international laws. “Any association of the Qatari government with the reported allegations is unfounded and seriously misleading,” he added.

Kylie, a former TV presenter, met the Qatari Minister of Labor, Ali bin Samih Al-Marri, shortly before the World Cup kicked off last month.

“I think the Arab World Cup was a great tool for … political transformation and reforms,” ​​she said in a video statement posted on Twitter by the state-run Qatar News Agency.

In a subsequent speech in the European Parliament, she said: “Today, the World Cup in Qatar is proof … of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historic achievement.” [sic] Convert a country.

While Kylie has been stripped of her powers as deputy speaker of the parliament, which is based in Brussels and Strasbourg, she remains a member of the European Parliament and normally enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution.

However, there is an exception in cases where the suspect is caught in the act of committing a crime.

According to the judicial source, the Belgian police detained Kylie in possession of “bags of cash,” which means that she appeared before the judge on charges of “flagrante delicto,” or to commit a crime.

The scandal caused ripples across Greece as there was growing concern that the corruption investigation could affect the country’s image.

PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis wasted no time in expelling the centre-left MEP from his party, telling a party conference on Sunday that he would not accept “not an iota of doubt in matters of transparency”.

Androulakis, who is a member of the European Parliament himself, took the decision to sack the former news anchor within hours of the revelations that emerged on Friday. Shortly after the group of European Social Democrats announced that it would suspend the 44-year-old woman’s employment.

Kylie’s relations with her party—Greece’s third-largest political force—become increasingly tense, leading Androulakis to describe her as a “Trojan horse” for the ruling New Democracy party.

Despite representing an opposition group in the European Parliament, Kylie has been publicly supported by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in her bid to become Vice President.

Subscribe to This is Europe

The most pivotal stories and debates of Europeans – from identity to economics to ecology

Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertisements, and content funded by third parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

“Not only is it embarrassing for Passouk, but for Mitsotakis personally because he lobbied so hard for her to get the position,” said one MEP. Kylie isn’t the only Greek [lawmaker] to make flattering remarks about Qatar.”

In April, EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, a New Democrat politician, tweeted that “visa-free travel for a short period” was proposed to member states for Qatari and Kuwaiti nationals as a result of “the remarkable success of both governments in achieving far-reaching reforms.”

Although Schinas’s tweet was republished by Greek media over the weekend, the media reported that there was no indication of wrongdoing on the part of the politician.

On Saturday, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said the institution “stands firm against corruption” and will do everything it can to “help the course of justice”.

The European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats group said it was appalled by the corruption allegations and called for urgent action.

“Given the seriousness of the allegations, until the relevant authorities provide relevant information and clarifications, we demand a suspension of work on any files and a full vote on the Gulf states, especially the liberalization of visas and planned visits,” the group said in a statement. .

Daniel Freund, MEP and co-chair of the European Parliament’s anti-corruption group, said the allegations, if confirmed, would constitute one of the most serious corruption scandals in Brussels in recent decades.

“The current incident shows how aggressively third countries are trying to exert their influence in the European Union,” he said. “Those who do this by illegal means, or even by bribery, must be punished.”

Part of the problem, he added, is that other countries have been exempted from Brussels’ “relatively good” lobbying rules.

“Money should not buy influence in the European Union,” said Freund. “The suspicion alone is intolerable. The accusations must be fully investigated. There is a threat of a loss of confidence in the European Parliament, although it is in fact one of the most transparent parliaments in Europe.”

Alberto Alemanno, professor of European Union law at HEC Paris, called the allegations “the most shocking integrity scandal in EU history” and said it underscored the need for reform.

AFP and Reuters contributed to this report

[ad_2]