As the plenary session of the European Parliament opened in Strasbourg in a serious atmosphere on Monday 12 December, the Belgian police continued their searches in the Brussels premises of the institution, to seize the data from the computers of a dozen collaborators of Italian MEPs from the Social Democratic (S&D) group.
Since December 9, the community legislative assembly has lived to the rhythm of “Qatargate”, which sees some of its members suspected of having defended the interests of Qatar in return for hard cash. That day, the Belgian police sealed three offices, that of the vice-president of the institution Eva Kaili and those of the elected officials Marc Tarabella and Marie Arena, who claimed that they were the offices of their assistant.
In total, the investigating judge Michel Claise carried out around twenty operations during which six people were arrested, four of whom were imprisoned. Eva Kaili, her companion, parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi, ex-MP Pier Antonio Panzeri and Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, leader of the NGO No Peace Without Justice will appear on December 14 before a Brussels court which must rule on their continuation. in prison.
Large sums of cash were seized during an investigation which began last summer. Some 600,000 euros were discovered at the Brussels home of Mr. Panzeri, 150,000 euros at Eva Kaili’s, where many gifts marked “Qatar” were also found. The father of the Greek MP was hiding 600,000 euros in a briefcase when the police arrested him at the Sofitel hotel in the European district.
Consternation
In Strasbourg, Monday, consternation reigned. “European democracy is under attack”threw Roberta Mestsola, President of the European Parliament, after discussing “his fury, his anger, his grief”. “There will be no impunity, (…) nothing will be swept under the rug. (…) There will be no “business as usual” [« les affaires continuent »]. (…) We are going to shake this Parliament,” continued the Maltese from the European People’s Party (EPP, conservative), which has placed the fight against corruption at the heart of its political identity. To deal with the emergency, she proposed to MEPs to withdraw Eva Kaili’s title of vice-president and to postpone the vote which was scheduled for Tuesday on the visa exemption for Qataris who want to come to Europe. On Thursday, elected officials should also vote on a resolution on “Qatar’s suspicions of corruption and the broader need for transparency and accountability within European institutions”.
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