Calls for reform after EU arrests in Qatar corruption probe
The arrest of a European Parliament vice-president and four others linked to a corruption probe implicating World Cup hosts Qatar sparked calls Saturday for "root and branch reform" in the EU institution.
"This is not an isolated incident," said anti-corruption campaigning group Transparency International.
"Over many decades, the Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent (or indeed any) ethics oversight," its director Michiel van Hulten said.
The European Parliament's Greens group called for a full investigation into the allegations of bribery by Qatar.
"We will not accept business as usual...," the group posted on Twitter. "We must strengthen our rules so this cannot happen again.
The European Parliament had "become a law unto itself", said Van Hulten. "It is time for root and branch reform."
Alberto Alemanno, a law professor based in Belgium, said the "scandal opens multiple Pandora’s boxes all at once", including "flawed EU ethics system for MEPs" and the "scale of foreign influence over EU".
- Corruption, money laundering -
Police arrested Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili on Friday hours after four others had been detained for questioning.
At least three were either Italian citizens or originally came from Italy, a source close to the case told AFP.
Kaili, 44, is the partner of one of the four, Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant with the European Parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said the source.
Former Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, who served as a socialist in the parliament between 2004 and 2019, was also reportedly arrested.
All five were still being questioned Saturday, said a spokesman for Belgium's federal prosecutor's office, adding that the investigation concerned suspected "corruption" and "money laundering".
In Rome, a government source confirmed to AFP reports that Panzeri's wife and daughter had been detained.
The arrests followed raids in Brussels which Belgian prosecutors said turned up 600,000 euros ($630,000) in cash. Police also seized computers and mobile phones.
Belgian daily L'Echo reported Saturday that "several bags full of (cash) notes" had been found at Kaili's Brussels home.
While prosecutors did not name the country under investigation, a legal source close to the case confirmed to AFP Belgian press reports that it was Qatar.
Prosecutors had merely said the state in question was suspected of influencing the decisions of the European Parliament through cash payments or gifts to top figures.
- Kaili expelled from party -
Kaili is a former television presenter and one of the European Parliament's 14 vice presidents. In November, just prior to the World Cup, she met Qatar's Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri.
In a video statement posted on Twitter by the Qatar News Agency, she said: "I believe the World Cup for Arabs has been a great tool for... political transformation and reforms".
In a subsequent speech at the European Parliament she said: "Today, the World Cup in Qatar is proof... of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of a country."
Qatar, she insisted, was a "front-runner in labour rights".
In Athens Friday, the president of the Greek socialists (PASOK) Nikos Androulakis announced on Twitter that Kaili had been expelled from the party.
On Saturday, the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament announced they had suspended her membership.
"We are appalled by the allegations of corruption in the European institutions," they said in a statement, promising full cooperation with the investigating authorities.
- Qatar denial -
A Qatari government official told AFP: "We are not aware of any details of an investigation. Any claims of misconduct by the State of Qatar are gravely misinformed."
The country "operates in full compliance with international laws and regulations", he added.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, meanwhile said the assembly "stands firmly against corruption."
"We'll do all we can to assist the course of justice," she added.
Panzeri, 67, currently heads a Brussels-based human rights organisation called Fight Impunity.
The secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation, Italian Luca Visentini, was also among those reportedly arrested. The ITUC said it was "aware" of the media reports.
World Cup host Qatar has striven to improve its image in the face of criticism over its record on worker protections and human rights.
Interviewed by AFP on Monday, Visentini had welcomed progress made by Qatar on worker rights, but insisted "pressure" needed to be maintained once the tournament ended.
Migrant workers make up more than 2.5 million of Qatar's 2.9 million population.
mad/jj/ach
Issued on: 10/12/2022 -
Text by: NEWS WIRES
A Greek MEP was suspended as a vice president of the European Parliament Saturday over a corruption probe implicating World Cup hosts Qatar that has ensnared four others and sparked calls for "root and branch reform" in the EU institution.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola "has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as Vice-President of the European Parliament," a spokesperson said.
Earlier Saturday, Metsola said on Twitter that the parliament "stands firmly against corruption", adding they would so everything they could to "assist the course of justice".
Socialist MEP Eva Kaili was arrested on Friday hours after four others were detained for questioning.
The announcement came amid mounting outrage over the allegations and calls for action to tackle corruption inside the European Parliament.
"Over many decades, the Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent (or indeed any) ethics oversight," Transparency International's director Michiel van Hulten said.
The European Parliament's Greens group called for a full investigation into allegations of bribery by Qatar.
"We will not accept business as usual...," the group said. "We must strengthen our rules so this cannot happen again."
The European Parliament had "become a law unto itself", said Van Hulten. "It is time for root and branch reform."
Alberto Alemanno, a law professor based in Belgium, said the "scandal opens multiple Pandora's boxes all at once", including "flawed EU ethics system for MEPs" and the "scale of foreign influence over EU".
Corruption, money laundering
At least three of the others arrested were either Italian citizens or originally came from Italy, a source close to the case told AFP.
Kaili, 44, is the partner of one of the four others detained: Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary assistant with the European Parliament's Socialists and Democrats group, said the source.
Former Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, who served as a socialist in the parliament between 2004 and 2019, was also reportedly arrested.
Belgium's federal prosecutor's office said the investigation concerned suspected "corruption" and "money laundering".
In Rome, a government source confirmed to AFP reports that Panzeri's wife and daughter had been detained.
The arrests followed raids in Brussels which Belgian prosecutors said turned up 600,000 euros ($630,000) in cash. Police also seized computers and mobile phones.
Belgian daily L'Echo reported that "several bags full of (cash) notes" had been found at Kaili's Brussels home.
While prosecutors did not name the country under investigation, a legal source close to the case confirmed to AFP Belgian press reports that it was Qatar.
Kaili expelled from party
Kaili is a former television presenter and one of the European Parliament's 14 vice presidents. In November, just prior to the World Cup, she met Qatar's Labour Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri.
In a video statement posted on Twitter by the Qatar News Agency, she said: "I believe the World Cup for Arabs has been a great tool for... political transformation and reforms".
In a subsequent speech at the European Parliament she said Qatar was a "front-runner in labour rights".
In Athens Friday, the president of the Greek socialists (PASOK) Nikos Androulakis announced on Twitter that Kaili had been expelled from the party.
On Saturday, the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament announced they had suspended her membership.
Qatar denial
A Qatari government official told AFP: "We are not aware of any details of an investigation. Any claims of misconduct by the State of Qatar are gravely misinformed."
The country "operates in full compliance with international laws and regulations", he added.
Panzeri, 67, currently heads a Brussels-based human rights organisation called Fight Impunity.
The secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation, Italian Luca Visentini, was also among those reportedly arrested. The ITUC said it was "aware" of the media reports.
World Cup host Qatar has striven to improve its image in the face of criticism over its record on worker protections and human rights.
Migrant workers make up more than 2.5 million of Qatar's 2.9 million population.
(AFP)
EU parliament chief takes action as lobbying scandal simmers
By Lorne Cook | AP
December 10, 2022
BRUSSELS — A vice president of the European Union’s parliament was suspended from her duties on Saturday after being caught up in an investigation into influence peddling at the EU assembly allegedly involving officials from Qatar.
Eva Kaili, a 44-year-old Greek former TV news anchor, was suspended by her party in Greece and the EU assembly’s Socialists and Democrats group Friday after Belgian police staged 16 raids across Brussels as part of a probe into corruption and money laundering at the parliament.
Four people were detained for questioning, and investigators recovered around 600,000 euros ($633,500) in cash and seized computer equipment and mobile telephones. Prosecutors did not identify the four but at least one was an EU lawmaker and one was a former member.
Authorities have not identified the Gulf country suspected of offering cash or gifts to officials at the parliament in exchange for political favors, but several members have linked the investigation to Qatar.
Parliament President Roberta Metsola “has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as vice president of the European Parliament,” Metsola’s spokesman said late Saturday.
The decision was taken “in the light of the ongoing judicial investigations by Belgian authorities,” he said, without providing further details.
The EU assembly is set to hold its last plenary session of the year in Strasbourg, France, beginning Monda
The co-president of the Greens group, Philippe Lamberts, called for a parliamentary inquiry and for the issue to be put to debate this week, echoing calls from some other political groups.
The Greens “strongly condemn corruption and bribery, cash and precious gifts cannot draw the political lines in this house,” Lamberts said in a statement. He added that his group “will vote against visa facilitation for Qatar in this week’s plenary vote.”
The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, proposed in April that citizens from Qatar be granted short visa-free stays in the 27-nation bloc provided they have a biometric passport. The legislation has been working its way through the assembly.
Kaili’s party in Greece, the Socialist Pasok-Movement for Change, publicly distanced itself from remarks she made in the EU parliament last month praising Qatar, which is currently hosting soccer’s gala event, the World Cup.
She said the World Cup is “proof, actually, of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of a country with reforms that inspired the Arab world.” Kaili also repeated what she said is an International Labour Organization view that “Qatar is a frontrunner in labor rights.”
After Friday’s raids, Belgian prosecutors said federal judicial police suspect that an undisclosed country in the Gulf region has been trying “to influence the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament."
It said this was allegedly done “by paying large sums of money or offering large gifts to third parties with a significant political and/or strategic position within the European Parliament.”
In Italy on Saturday, Article One, a small center-left party, suspended former EU lawmaker Pier-Antonio Panzeri following reports he was caught up in the scandal.
In a statement posted on the party’s Facebook page, Article One said it was “disturbed” by the reports but expressed full confidence in Belgian investigators. It added that it “hopes that Panzeri can show he is not involved in something that is completely incompatible with his history and political commitment.”
Panzeri, who was inscribed in the Lombardy branch of Article One, was also once a member of the same political group in the EU parliament as Kaili, the Socialists and Democrats. The head of the group, Iratxe Garcia Perez, tweeted Saturday that “Eva Kaili should be replaced as EP vice-president in order to protect the institution’s respectability and citizens’ trust.”
The International Trade Union Confederation declined to comment Friday when asked by The Associated Press about reports that its general secretary, Luca Visentini, was also caught up in the affair. A message on the organization’s website on Saturday said that “ITUC has no further comment on this issue at present, pending further information.”
Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield in Rome, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed to this report.
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