Tag: Corruption
Belgian right-wing MEP cleared in harassment probe – POLITICO
A European Parliament probe into harassment allegations against Belgian EU lawmaker Assita Kanko has been dropped, she said Friday.
“Today I was informed that a complaint filed against me … has been dismissed,” the 43-year-old MEP said in an emailed statement.
“The competent committee has decided, on the basis of all the arguments, facts and results of the investigation, that the accusations against me of improper demanding behavior have proved to be unfounded. The president of the European Parliament follows
Why Britain’s lobbying crackdown isn’t really a crackdown – POLITICO
LONDON — The U.K. is finally promising to tighten its loose lobbying rules after a host of scandals. The trouble is, hardly anyone’s buying the plan.
Ministers chose the last day before the House of Commons kicked off its summer recess to respond to a swathe of recommendations made in three major reports over the past two years. They vowed “fundamental” changes to the U.K.’s transparency rules to ensure the “integrity” of government.
But ethics advocates remain to be convinced,
Plan Touching Netanyahu Corruption Case Angers Israel’s Opposition
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has long denied seeking to use his power to undermine his long-running corruption trial, for example by dismissing the country’s attorney general, who oversees his prosecution.
But on Wednesday night, some of Mr. Netanyahu’s closest allies provided a glimpse of how they could intervene in his prosecution through subtler means.
Eleven lawmakers from Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing party, Likud, introduced a bill that would strip the attorney general of the right to oversee the prosecution
Corruption, treason in Ukraine won’t be tolerated, Zelenskyy says – EURACTIV.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday (25 July) he would tolerate no corruption or treachery in affairs of state while his country is struggling to find the means to defend itself against Russian invaders.
Zelenskyy made anti-corruption appeals in his nightly video address as two landmark cases came to light – the arrests of a military recruitment official accused of mass embezzlement and of a parliamentarian accused of collaborating with Russia.
The president last month announced plans to audit
The 11 most embarrassing political resignations – POLITICO
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It’s not every day that a pair of sunglasses causes your downfall. But that’s what happened to Bjørnar Moxnes, a Norwegian left-wing party leader who was caught on camera stealing a pair of luxury sunglasses from Oslo airport.
“A lot of people have asked me how I could do something so stupid. I’ve asked myself that many times in recent weeks. I don’t have an adequate explanation,” Moxnes wrote
Admitting Ukraine will be the EU’s biggest geopolitical contribution to the war – POLITICO
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Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice and a columnist for POLITICO Europe. He tweets at @Mij_Europe.
The European Commission finally delivered its long-anticipated oral report on Ukraine’s progress last month, looking at the headway made toward the seven reforms the country will need to pass if European Union leaders are to green-light opening accession negotiations with Kyiv.
On reforms relating to the judiciary, Kyiv
Inside a Ukrainian baby factory – POLITICO
KYIV, Ukraine — When Tanya, a 45-year-old woman living in Los Angeles, paid $10,000 and sent two embryos to a surrogacy firm in Ukraine hoping to build a family six years ago, she says she never expected the uncertainty and heartbreak the process would bring.
Tanya desperately wanted a child but found out she would be unable to conceive herself. After discovering how expensive surrogacy in the U.S. can be, she and her husband began pursuing options abroad — and
The Enduring Grift of the Washington Operator
Among its many well-documented deficiencies, Washington, D.C., conspicuously lacks a robust tabloid press. Unlike Britain’s pioneering tabloid scene in London, Washington reporting, tasked with chronicling the fortunes of a putatively more expansive and less class-bound American social order, is a dreary exercise in chin-stroking deference and decorum. This condition is grimly distilled in the self-regarding pomposity of the motto adopted by The Washington Post, the market-dominating broadsheet owned by one of the richest men in
11 key Qatargate players — where are they now? – POLITICO
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BRUSSELS — On a Friday morning last December, Belgian police swooped in on top political figures in a cash-for-influence scandal that would quickly be dubbed Qatargate, unveiling a murky underworld of foreign interference operating at the European Union’s core.
The investigation, months in the making, represented the first strike in a high-stakes probe by Belgian prosecutors and carried all the hallmarks of a Hollywood crime caper.
There were spies,
A Parliament of bullies – POLITICO
EU authorities have repeatedly failed to protect victims of bullying by powerful politicians, amid a culture of indifference toward harassment within the European Parliament, a major POLITICO investigation reveals.
A picture built up over four months, based on dozens of interviews and confidential documents, showed a system in crisis that has left junior staffers scarred by years of abuse.
Witnesses and victims, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly, described feeling “physically and mentally dead” or even suicidal as a