The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has confirmed this Saturday that the European Parliament has “fully cooperated” with the relevant police and legal authorities in relation to possible cases of bribery by Qatar to Eva Kaili, one of the vice presidents of the organization European.
“Our European Parliament stands firm against corruption. At this stage, we cannot comment on any ongoing investigation, except to confirm that we have fully cooperated with all relevant law enforcement and legal authorities and will do so,” Metsola said.
In a publication on her official profile on the social network Twitter, the President of the European Parliament has remarked that the body will do “everything possible” to help and collaborate so that Justice can take its course.
Belgian police searched the home of Kaili on Friday, who was also questioned, in connection with a plot of alleged bribery by Qatar to people who could influence decision-making in the European Parliament.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office also reported the arrest of four people and up to 16 searches carried out in various neighborhoods of Brussels in the framework of an investigation into an “alleged criminal organization of corruption and money laundering” that for months had been seeking on behalf of of a Gulf country to influence the “economic and political” decisions of the European Parliament.
“For this they paid sums of money and offered important gifts to third parties with a significant political and/or strategic position within the European Parliament,” the Prosecutor’s Office explained in a statement on Friday that confirmed the four arrests without clarifying the identity of the suspects. investigated.
However, sources from the investigation cited by the newspapers ‘Le Soir’ and ‘Knack’ revealed that the detainees included a former Socialist MEP, the Italian Pier-Antonio Panzeri; various parliamentary assistants or the general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Luca Visentini. These media also identify Qatar as the country investigated in the framework of this anti-corruption operation.
After the news broke, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) reported that MEP Kaili had been expelled from the party by decision of the party’s president, Nikos Androulakis.
