The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced Monday an internal investigation to review all the facts in relation to the institution and has assured that «there will be no impunity» for those who have responsibilities in the corruption scheme uncovered in Belgium for the alleged payment of bribes to MEPs and staff of the European Parliament by Qatar.
«We will not sweep anything under the carpet,» said Metsola in a long speech at the opening of the plenary session in Strasbourg (France) to strongly censure corruption, regret that what he considers an «attack» on the institution and democracy of those who try to buy favors and warn that the Parliament «will always be on the side of the law».
The Maltese politician has said that they have been «the longest days of her life» and has expressed both her «fury» and her «anger and sadness» for the investigated facts, while confirming that she has been collaborating with the Belgian authorities in the investigation and that during the weekend she was present at one of the raids.
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed shortly after that the investigation for corruption, laundering and criminal organization has been open «more than four months» before acting last Friday, when about twenty searches were carried out, sealed offices in the Brussels headquarters of the European Parliament that have been searched on Monday and six people were arrested, four of whom remain in custody and on Wednesday will testify before the judge.
Among those charged is the Greek MEP Eva Kaili, who holds one of the fourteen vice-presidencies of the European Parliament and whose home was found during the searches about 600,000 euros. In two other actions, the Belgian authorities seized «several hundred thousand euros» in a suitcase in a hotel room and another 150,000 euros in the home of another MEP.
In this context, Metsola over the weekend stripped Kaili of her functions and representative duties as vice-president, although it will be up to the plenary of the European Parliament to decide on her removal as vice-president, if confirmed early Tuesday morning by the Conference of Presidents (CoP), which brings together the leaders of all the groups.
«I know that this is not the end of the road, we will continue to assist in the investigations for as long as necessary,» said Metsola, who also asked all MEPs not to try to make political capital out of the situation.
«I want to be clear about the accusations, we are not talking about left or right, north or south. It is about right and wrong and I urge you to resist the temptation to exploit this moment for political ends. Do not underestimate the threat we face,» he reiterated.
During the debate, which continued, the leaders of the political parties took the floor to condemn the cases of corruption under investigation, to warn that this situation damages democracy and to defend the honesty of the majority of MEPs.
The president of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Iratxe García, to whose political family belong the detained MEPs and most of the questioned assistants, confessed that it is «a very sad day for Europe but also for the social democrats».
For this reason, García announced, the group of European Socialists have decided to «appear as an injured party» in the case whose judicial process begins in Belgium for the alleged corruption scheme led by Qatar.
Meanwhile, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted this weekend to the accusations by assuring in a statement that any links of the plot with the Qatari government are «unfounded» and a «serious misinformation».
