Bags full of money were confiscated from the arrested Vice President of the European Parliament, according to a media report. She will now be disempowered. Is the corruption scandal still spreading?
The Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, arrested on suspicion of corruption, is deposed. The 44-year-old Greek loses all powers, duties and tasks assigned to her with immediate effect.
This was ordered by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, as her spokeswoman announced on Saturday evening. A formal dismissal of Kaili can only be decided by Parliament itself.
Metsola is reacting to investigations by the Belgian judiciary into suspected bribery and corruption, money laundering and attempts to influence political decisions by the Emirate of Qatar, the host of the current World Cup. On Friday there were 16 searches and five arrests – including Kaili.
The former TV presenter is one of 14 Vice-Presidents of Parliament. She sat in parliament for the Pasok party, which, together with the SPD, belongs to the Social Democratic group. She has already been expelled from her party and suspended from the parliamentary group.
The SPD MEP Katarina Barley expressed irritation and disappointment. “We don’t tolerate corruption. Corruption is poison for democracy,” said the vice-president of the parliament on ARD’s “Tagesthemen”. Actually, the parliament has strict rules for the work of lobbyists, stricter than most national parliaments. “But if criminal energy is really involved, then no code of conduct and no obligation to disclose will help. Then you can only use criminal law to get at it,” she said, looking at Kaili and the other suspects.
According to information from the newspaper “L’Echo”, investigators found bags full of cash in Kaili’s Brussels apartment. According to the public prosecutor’s office, 600,000 euros in cash and mobile phones were confiscated during the searches. This Sunday, the Belgian judiciary wants to decide whether the five suspects who have been provisionally arrested will remain in prison.
According to MPs and experts, the corruption scandal could spread even further. “I’m almost afraid that we are not yet at the end of the investigation,” said Green MP Daniel Freund of the “Münchner Merkur” (Sunday). The Kaili case and the possible links to Qatar show “how aggressively third countries are trying to influence European legislation”.
reactions
Freund said that those who want to assert their interests need majorities. “It’s like that in the FIFA Executive Committee and it’s like that in the European Parliament. You don’t turn the decisions of Parliament with a vice-president.” At the same time, the politician emphasized that the rules for curbing excessive influence of lobbyists, for example from business, in the EU are actually relatively strong. Third countries have so far been completely exempt from this. “The EU must react immediately here.”
Michiel van Hulten from the organization Transparency International EU said these were not isolated cases. “For decades, Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop – with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and no independent ethical oversight.” Any serious attempt to create more responsibilities has been blocked. It is time for far-reaching reforms.
Green MEP Erik Marquardt wrote on Twitter that the corruption scandal not only shook trust in the European Parliament, but was also an attack on democracy. If it turns out that Qatar wanted to use corruption to influence political decisions, there would have to be severe consequences. “In this situation, of course, there can be no visa liberalization for Qatar. The planned vote on this will either be referred back to the Interior Committee to draw the right conclusions. Or we will vote against visa liberalization as a parliament.”
According to dpa information, Kaili’s partner, who works as a political adviser in parliament, is also among those arrested. According to the prosecutor, a former MEP was also arrested, as well as his wife and daughter, according to the Italian news agency Ansa. With the exception of Kaili, all suspects have Italian nationality.
The European policy spokesman for the Union faction in the Bundestag, Gunther Krichbaum, told the editorial network Germany (RND) that the socialist faction in the EU Parliament was required to clarify which topics Kaili worked on and which faction decisions she might have influenced. It is also “purely self-evident” that Kaili must immediately return her mandate.
Source: Stern
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