Tag: Mauritania
The golden couple at the heart of Europe’s Qatargate scandal – POLITICO
BRUSSELS — Eva Kaili and Francesco Giorgi had left nothing to chance.
The duo that would later become the most famous — many would say infamous — couple in the European Union capital had been gearing up for this moment for years.
As Qatar prepared to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, they were among the Gulf state’s fiercest advocates in Brussels, defending its record on human rights and fending off criticism of its treatment of migrant workers.
And now,
The mystery of the untouched lawmaker at the heart of Qatargate – POLITICO
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BRUSSELS — A few months before confessing to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the European Parliament, Pier Antonio Panzeri had some advice for a friend.
“Don’t put yourself out of the game,” Panzeri told the Belgian MEP Maria Arena in August 2022 during a meal at the now-defunct Salvarino pizzeria in Brussels. “Because if you are in the game, then I am going to amass more
Nips, tucks and paperwork – POLITICO
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STRASBOURG — The European Parliament’s response to Qatargate: Fight corruption with paperwork.
When Belgian police made sweeping arrests and recovered €1.5 million from Parliament members in a cash-for-influence probe last December, it sparked mass clamoring for a deep clean of the institution, which has long languished with lax ethics and transparency rules, and even weaker enforcement.
Seven months later, the Parliament and its president, Roberta Metsola, can certainly claim
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,