The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, confirmed on Saturday that the European Parliament has «fully cooperated» with the relevant police and legal authorities in relation to a possible case of bribery by Qatar to Eva Kaili, one of the vice-presidents of the European body.
«Our European Parliament stands firm against corruption. At this stage, we cannot comment on any ongoing investigation, except to confirm that we have and will cooperate fully with all relevant law enforcement and legal authorities,» said Metsola.
In a publication in her official profile on the social network Twitter, the president of the European Parliament has remarked that the body will do «everything possible» to help and collaborate for justice to take its course.
Belgian police on Friday searched the home of Kaili, who was also questioned, in connection with a plot of alleged bribes by Qatar to people who could influence decision-making in the European Parliament.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office also reported the arrest of four people and up to 16 searches carried out in several neighborhoods of Brussels as part of an investigation into an «alleged criminal organization of corruption and money laundering» that for months sought on behalf of a Gulf country to influence the «economic and political» decisions of the European Parliament.
«To this end, they paid sums of money and offered significant gifts to third parties with a significant political and/or strategic position within the European Parliament,» the Prosecutor’s Office explained as early as Friday in a statement confirming the four arrests without clarifying the identity of those under investigation.
However, sources of the investigation quoted by the newspapers ‘Le Soir’ and ‘Knack’ revealed that among those arrested is a former Socialist MEP, the Italian Pier-Antonio Panzeri; several parliamentary assistants or the general secretary of the European Confederation of Trade Unions, Luca Visentini. These media also identify Qatar as the country under investigation in the framework of this anti-corruption operation.
Following the news, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) reported that MEP Kaili had been expelled from the party by decision of the party’s president, Nikos Androulakis.
