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EUROPEAN UNION

‘European parliament under attack’: What we know about the Qatar bribery claims

The EU has been hit by a growing scandal that alleges Members of the European Parliament accepted huge cash bribes from figures working on behalf of World Cup host Qatar. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 12 December 2022 23:03 CET
'European parliament under attack': What we know about the Qatar bribery claims
Members of the European Parliament attend the opening session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, on December 12, 2022. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)

What’s the story?

Leaders of the EU Parliament have accused foreign powers of trying to corrupt European democracy, as a
probe into alleged bribes from World Cup host Qatar widened.

Belgian investigators, meanwhile raided offices in the parliament‘s Brussels base, seeking to seize computer data to track the alleged web of corruption.

Searches were carried out at the homes of MEPs and their associates in Belgium and around a million euros in cash has been recovered after allegations that Qatar has been seeking to burnish its image.

Belgian prosecutors said 600,000 euros ($630,000) were found at the home of one suspect, 150,000 euros at the flat of an MEP and several hundred thousand euros in a suitcase in a hotel room.

Who is in trouble so far?

One of the European parliament’s vice presidents, Greek socialist Eva Kaili, has been charged with corruption by Belgian prosecutors and her assets have been frozen by her homeland.

On Tuesday the European parliament’s MEPs voted 625 to one to strip Greek socialist MEP Eva Kaili of her vice presidential role, despite her lawyer declaring that she was innocent and “has nothing to do with Qatar’s bribes”.

As the 44-year-old former TV news presenter sat in a Brussels jail cell, her colleagues in the Strasbourg parliament are scrambling to distance themselves from the taint of scandal.

On Wednesday, a Belgian judge will decide whether to maintain Kaili and three co-accused in custody pending trial.

Three of Kaili’s associates have also been charged, after bags of cash were found in her home shortly after she returned from an official visit to Qatar, and a second MEP’s house has been searched.

Kaili visited Qatar just ahead of the World Cup and praised the country as a “frontrunner in labour rights”, a sentiment she has repeated on the floor of the parliament.

Kaili has been remanded in custody by an investigating magistrate in Belgium and has not travelled down to Strasbourg, the parliament‘s official seat, for the plenary session.

She received a new legal blow on Monday, when Greek authorities froze the 44-year-old former television presenter and her relatives’ assets.

Belgian prosecutors revealed on Sunday that four suspects had been charged “with participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption”.

The arrests followed raids in Brussels which prosecutors said turned up €600,000 ($630,000) in cash. Police also seized computers and mobile phones.

A group source told AFP that three MEPs have stepped down from committee positions pending the investigation and a fourth, Belgian socialist Marc Tarabella, has “suspended himself”.

Tarabella’s home was searched on Saturday, but he has not been formally charged.

What does this mean for the EU?

The Parliament‘s president, Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola, vowed to members meeting at their seat in Strasbourg on Monday that the body’s integrity would be restored.

“Make no mistake,” Metsola said. “The European Parliament, dear colleagues, is under attack. European democracy is under attack and our free and democratic societies are under attack.”

EU foreign ministers, arriving in Brussels to discuss sanctions against Iran and Russia, warned that the scandal threatens the credibility of European institutions.

“The allegations against the vice president of the European Parliament are of utmost concern, very serious,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

“It is a question of confidence of people into our institutions, and this confidence and trust into our institutions needs higher standards.”

EU member state ministers meeting in Brussels, like Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, warned that the scandal was “damaging”.

“This is really an unbelievable incident that must now be cleared up, without ifs and buts, with the full force of the law,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

“Because this is also and especially about Europe’s credibility and consequences must follow.”

What’s the response from Qatar?

The Gulf monarchy, which is currently hosting the football World Cup, denies any involvement. “Any claims of misconduct by the State of Qatar are gravely misinformed,” a Qatar official told AFP.

Qatar had been hoping that its diplomatic outreach, and the glow of hosting of the World Cup, would secure EU visa liberalisation for its citizens.

Qatar is a key energy supplier to Europe, and plays an important intermediary role in several diplomatic tangles, but it has also been criticised for the alleged mistreatment of migrant workers, most notoriously those who built the World Cup stadiums.

Member comments

  1. I actually think this case demonstrates the robustness of the oversight over the European Parliament and its members. The investigation has highlighted the corruption and criminal charges and due process are now kicking in. This is really a fine example to set for many a country where the corruption is known but no consequences have followed…

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EUROPEAN UNION

Denmark joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

Denmark is one of 15 EU member states who have sent a joint letter to the European Commission demanding a further tightening of the bloc's asylum policy, which will make it easier to transfer undocumented migrants to third countries, such as Rwanda, including when they are rescued at sea.

Published: 16 May 2024 16:08 CEST
Denmark joins countries calling for asylum centres outside EU

The letter, sent to the European Commission on Thursday, comes less than a month before European Parliament elections, in which far-right anti-immigration parties are forecast to make gains.

The letter asks the European Union’s executive arm to “propose new ways and solutions to prevent irregular migration to Europe”.

The group includes Italy and Greece, which receive a substantial number of the people making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea to reach the EU — many seeking to escape poverty, war or persecution, according to the International Organization for Migration.

They want the EU to toughen up its recently adopted asylum pact, which introduces tighter controls on those seeking to enter the 27-nation bloc.
That reform includes speedier vetting of people arriving without documents, new border detention centres and faster deportation for rejected asylum applicants.

The 15 proposed in their letter the introduction of “mechanisms… aimed at detecting, intercepting — or in cases of distress, rescuing — migrants on the high seas and bringing them to a predetermined place of safety in a partner country outside the EU, where durable solutions for those migrants could be found”.

They said it should be easier to send asylum seekers to third countries while their requests for protection are assessed.

They cited the example of a controversial deal that Italy has struck with non-EU Albania, under which Rome can send thousands of asylum seekers plucked from Italian waters to holding camps in the Balkan country until their cases are processed.

The concept in EU asylum law of what constitutes “safe third countries” should be reassessed, they continued.

Safe country debate

EU law stipulates that people arriving in the bloc without documents can be sent to a third country, where they could have requested asylum — so long as that country is deemed safe and the applicant has a genuine link with it.

That would exclude schemes like the divisive law passed by the UK, which has now left the EU, enabling London to refuse all irregular arrivals the right to request asylum and send them to Rwanda.

Rights groups accuse the African country — ruled with an iron fist by President Paul Kagame since the end of the 1994 genocide that killed around 800,000 people — of cracking down on free speech and political opposition.

The 15 nations said they wanted the EU to make deals with third countries along the main migration routes, citing the example of the arrangement it made with Turkey in 2016 to take in Syrian refugees from the war in their home country.

The letter was signed by Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland and Romania.

It was not signed by Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has resisted EU plans to share out responsibility across the bloc for hosting asylum seekers, or to contribute to the costs of that plan.

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