Euro notes. Photo credit: Markus Spiske
Qatar-gate: Sixty EU politicians suspected of crimes
The European Parliament is sinking into a corruption swamp. Of the 705 EU parliamentarians, 60 politicians are suspected of corruption in the course of the bribery scandal involving Vice President Eva Kaili, which corresponds to eight percent.
Published: December 21, 2022, 5:52 am
Brussels
The scandal surrounding the apparently corrupt social democratic EU Vice-President Eva Kaili (44) continues to expand. Some 60 members of the European Parliament are suspected of bribery, and investigations are to be initiated against them. Further searches of offices have been carried out by the public prosecutor’s office.
Like Eva Kaili herself, the MPs who have now been targeted are said to have made strikingly positive statements about Qatar. There is a suspicion that the Gulf state bought political goodwill.
The EU Parliament currently has 705 members. With the 60 mandataries showing a lack of ethical standards, eight percent of the people’s representatives have to face investigative authorities.
As reported, the Greek EU Vice President of Parliament Eva Kaili is currently in custody. Her father was caught trying to remove plastic bags full of cash from Kaili’s apartment. Overall, the Belgian investigators secured more than 1,5 million euros in cash. A trail also leads to Italian EU politicians and trade unionists.
The Greek social democrat faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
An attorney for Kaili meanwhile denied that money found in his client’s Brussels home belonged to her. Michalis Dimitrakopoulos said his client had never taken a bribe in her life, and complained “over the stance of her European Parliament colleagues”.
“She says she feels betrayed when they make her appear as if she had a personal agenda with Qatar and when they hint that she was taking bribes,” he said.
Kaili’s partner, Italian national Francesco Giorgi, who worked as an assistant in the office of an Italian MEP, is also a suspect in the case. He is the founder of Fight Impunity, an NGO that promotes “accountability as a central pillar of the architecture of international justice”.
Giorgi is reportedly an adviser on the Middle East and North Africa region in the European Parliament.
Belgian police reportedly believe Giorgi has direct knowledge about €600 000 found in her apartment and in the possession of Kaili’s father.
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy
BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.
Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions
BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.
Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’
RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.
UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs
LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.
Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers
LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.
Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever
RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.
Dismantling diplomacy with ‘feminist foreign policy’
BudapestGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to counter German security issues abroad with feminist politics. Gender training, LGBTQ events and quotas are now part of their new guidelines, which are intended to bring about "cultural change". The German ambassador to Hungary, Julia Gross, provided an embarrassing example.
Germans demand investigation of Nord Stream sabotage
BerlinAfter the sensational revelations by US investigative reporter Seymour Hersh about the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attacks on September 26, 2022, the German government has remained silent. It does not want to comment on Hersh's research results, according to which the pipelines were blown up by Americans and Norwegians.
Macron mulling withdrawal of Putin’s Legion of Honour award
ParisAt the end of Jacques Chirac's term in 2007, France and Russia still maintained cordial relations. During his speech at a tripartite summit, the French president had even mentioned bilateral relations that were "excellent in all respects, particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure and aeronautics".
