The Vice President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, who is suspected of bribery, is threatened with final dismissal. A meeting of the so-called Conference of Presidents is scheduled for the morning in Strasbourg – in addition to Parliament President Roberta Metsola, these are the chairmen of the parliamentary groups. They are to initiate the process of dismissing former TV presenter Eva Kaili as MP. The plenary session is then to debate it on the same day.
The 44-year-old has already been expelled from her Greek Pasok party and the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament. Metsola had also relieved her of her duties as deputy at the weekend.
Greek social democrat Kaili is one of six suspects arrested by Belgian authorities since Friday in the corruption scandal. Four of them were taken into custody on Sunday – including Kaili, her boyfriend and former MEP Antonio Panzeri, according to information from the German Press Agency and other media. According to the public prosecutor’s office, they are to appear before a court chamber on Wednesday, which is to decide whether the detention is to be maintained and how to proceed.
Qatar is said to have influenced the EU Parliament
The four suspects are accused of involvement in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption. It is said that the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, which is currently hosting the soccer World Cup, has tried to influence political decisions in the European Parliament with extensive monetary and material gifts.
A possible visa facilitation for Qatar should therefore not be available any time soon. Although the responsible committee had voted in favor of it at the beginning of December, the plenary referred the dossier back to the committee on Monday in view of the latest revelations. “We must ensure that this process has not been influenced by corruption. We must also ensure that any attempt to attack our democracy has consequences,” said the responsible rapporteur, Erik Marquardt (Greens). Qatar rejected the allegations against the government in Doha in the scandal as unfounded
Found a suitcase full of money
In the Belgian capital, investigators are pushing ahead with their work. They also searched rooms in the EU Parliament in Brussels on Monday, according to the public prosecutor. Data was confiscated from the computers of ten parliamentary employees. There were also raids in Italy on Sunday.
According to the information, there have been a total of 20 searches since the beginning of the investigation – 19 in offices and living quarters and one in the European Parliament itself. According to this, 600,000 euros were found on a suspect, several hundred thousand euros in a suitcase in a Brussels hotel and 150,000 euros in the apartment an MEP, whose name was not given.
Meanwhile, Kaili herself continues to come under pressure in her home country. The Greek anti-money laundering authority froze all of the 44-year-old’s assets. The same applies to her parents, her sister and her boyfriend, who are also arrested in Belgium. Accounts, real estate holdings, company investments and similar assets would be examined.
