DMEP Eva Kaili, arrested on corruption charges, has been suspended as Vice President of the European Parliament. Parliament President Roberta Metsola revoked the 44-year-old “with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks” as her deputy, as a spokeswoman for Metsola announced on Saturday evening.
Kaili and four other suspects were arrested in Brussels on Friday as part of investigations into a corruption scandal in the European Parliament. The Greek had already been expelled from her party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), on Friday evening. She is now being interrogated by investigators.
Groups in the EU Parliament want to postpone negotiations on visa facilitation
After the arrest of five people on allegations of corruption in connection with the World Cup host country Qatar, several factions in the EU Parliament want to suspend planned negotiations on visa facilitation for citizens of the Gulf Emirates. “We in the Greens are against Qatar getting visa facilitation in the current situation,” Green MEP Erik Marquardt told the AFP news agency on Saturday.
The start of negotiations between Parliament and the member states on visa facilitation for Qatar and Kuwait was to be formally announced in the EU Parliament on Monday. The responsible committee in Parliament and the member states had already spoken out in principle in favor of citizens from Qatar and Kuwait being able to stay in the EU for up to 90 days without a visa.
Green MEP Erik Marquardt
Source: Jan Woitas/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
Marquardt, who is responsible for the bill in parliament, said he wanted to suspend the start of negotiations and thus possible visa facilitation until more information about the allegation of corruption became known. “You have to make sure that there was no interference from members of parliament or employees on the EU Parliament’s draft text on visa facilitation for Qatar,” said Marquardt.
The Left Group and the Social Democrats also called for later negotiations. “As long as there is no clarity as to the extent to which Qatari money has flowed, there must be no visa facilitation for Qatar,” said the co-chairman of the left-wing group in the EU Parliament, Martin Schirdewan, the AFP news agency.
In a press release on Friday, the Social Democrats group called for a “suspension of work on all dossiers and plenary votes relating to the Gulf States, particularly visa facilitation and planned visits”.
During the searches, among other things, 600,000 euros were confiscated
The police said the investigation was about a suspected criminal organization and allegations of corruption and money laundering. For several months, there have been suspicions that a Gulf state is trying to influence the political and economic decisions of the EU Parliament.
Substantial sums of money or gifts in kind are said to have been distributed to persons in Parliament who held a political or strategic position. According to Belgian prosecutors, there were 16 searches and five people arrested in the case on Friday.
The public prosecutor’s office did not say which Gulf state is allegedly trying to influence parliament. According to research by the newspaper “Le Soir” and the magazine “Knack”, it is the Emirate of Qatar.
On November 21, the Greek Kaili gave a speech in the European Parliament on the World Cup in Qatar. In it, she described the sporting event as proof “that sports diplomacy can bring about historic change in a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world”. Qatar has played a pioneering role in labor rights, for example.
Party leader Nikos Androulakis informed about Kaili’s expulsion from the party on Friday. She has been an MEP since 2014 and one of 14 Vice-Presidents of Parliament since 2022. From 2004 to 2007, according to her CV on the parliament website, she was a newsreader and journalist, and later also a PR consultant in Greece.
The EU Parliament is the focus of extensive corruption investigations by Belgian investigators
Source: dpa/Philipp von Ditfurth
According to the public prosecutor’s office, the Belgian police have suspected for several months that a Gulf state is trying to influence the political and economic decisions of the European Parliament. Substantial sums of money or gifts in kind are said to have been distributed to persons in Parliament who held a political or strategic position.
A former MEP was among the respondents, it said. According to the public prosecutor’s office, 600,000 euros in cash and mobile phones were confiscated during the searches.
Money should not play a role in the decisions in Europe’s largest parliament
A spokesman for the European Parliament said on request that there was no comment on ongoing investigations. However, one will fully cooperate with the responsible authorities.
The Social Democratic Group in Parliament made a similar statement. The faction has zero tolerance for corruption. At the same time, work in Parliament on all issues affecting the Gulf States and the plenary votes on them would have to be suspended.
EU Vice President Katarina Barley (SPD) called for the resignation of her arrested colleague Eva Kaili after allegations of corruption became known in the EU Parliament. “Public prosecutor’s investigations are always the point where you say, as a politician, you can no longer represent an institution,” Barley said on Saturday on ARD. “As such, we expect her to resign of her own accord.” Barley and Kaili both belong to the Socialist Group in the European Parliament.
Barley’s counterpart Nicola Beer from the FDP also expressed outrage at the allegations against several suspects in connection with the World Cup host country Qatar. “We represent the population of Europe,” Beer told ARD. “We are the cradle of democracy, we represent Europe’s values, and that must be irrefutable.”
The co-chair of the parliament’s anti-corruption working group, Daniel Freund, was also shocked by the investigation. “The allegations must be fully clarified,” said the Green politician. Money should not play a role in the decisions in Europe’s largest parliament. There is a huge loss of trust.
The judiciary wants to decide on the arrest warrant on Sunday
On Sunday it will be decided whether the Greek politician and four other suspects will remain in prison. Then possible arrest warrants will be decided, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office of the German Press Agency in Brussels.
According to dpa information, this also includes the partner of the Greek MEPs, who works in Parliament as an adviser on foreign policy and human rights. In addition, according to the public prosecutor’s office, a former MEP is among those arrested. According to media reports, all suspects except Kaili have Italian nationality or are of Italian descent.
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