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Social Democrat Eva Kaili: Accusation of "participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption"
Photo: Yiorgos Karahalis / REUTERS
It is already one of the biggest scandals in the history of the EU Parliament: Qatar is suspected of having bribed MEPs and others to represent the country's interests in Brussels.
At the center of the scandal are social democrats, especially the Greek Vice President of the EU Parliament, Eva Kaili.
On Friday, investigators searched numerous buildings in Brussels and confiscated 600,000 euros in cash, data carriers and mobile phones.
What are the exact allegations?
According to the investigators, it is about a possible influence on EU politicians by a Gulf state, according to consistent media reports, this is Qatar.
Large sums of money are said to have been paid or expensive gifts given to decision-makers and their employees in parliament.
Prosecutors on Sunday requested arrest warrants for four of the six people arrested on Friday.
According to consistent media reports, Vice President Eva Kaili is said to be among them.
The public prosecutor speaks of "participation in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption".
A Qatari government official said his country was "not aware of any details of an investigation."
Any "allegation of wrongdoing by the State of Qatar" is unfounded.
Who is Eva Kaili?
The Greek politician is already the face of the scandal.
Kaili, a former news anchor at private broadcaster Mega TV, has had a steep climb to the top.
She is one of 14 Vice Presidents of the European Parliament.
She has represented the Pasok party there since 2014.
In Parliament, among other things, worked on digitization.
She started her political career in Greece.
The qualified architect came to the city council of her native city of Thessaloniki at the age of 26.
She then made a career for the socialist party Pasok.
The 44-year-old was one of the youngest MPs when she was elected to the Greek Parliament in 2007.
In addition to her work as a member of parliament, she completed a master's degree in international and European relations.
In 2011, SPIEGEL reported that there had often been "murmurs" about her appearance.
This then turned into open sexism, Kaili was attacked in her home country as a "slut".
That year she had refused allegiance to the then Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou, a fellow party member, and called on him to resign.
The socialist prime minister surprised his party with the idea of having the Greeks vote on his austerity measures in a referendum.
For Kaili, the initiative came much "too late" - and her no became the prelude to an inner-party rebellion that ultimately led to Papandreou's withdrawal.
In 2012 her career in Greece was over.
Pasok boss Evangelos Venizelos, who came from the same constituency as her, ran there himself, while Kaili oriented himself towards the EU.
In 2014 she was elected to the European Parliament.
In the current investigation, the 44-year-old was caught "in flagranti", wrote the newspaper "Le Soir".
Bags full of banknotes were found in her apartment.
Arrest warrants have been issued for four of the six arrested.
Several media report unanimously that Kaili is among them.
Kaili can stay in custody for a maximum of one month.
During that time, either their immunity must be lifted by Parliament, or a trial must begin.
Both her Greek party and the Social Democratic group in the European Parliament have already expelled Kaili.
She was also relieved of her duties as Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
How does Kaili feel about Qatar?
At the beginning of November, Kaili traveled to Qatar - although the country had recently postponed the visit of a larger EU delegation.
Kaili then defended Qatar in a speech in the European Parliament.
The country has made progress and is a pioneer when it comes to labor rights.
The World Cup is proof that "sports diplomacy can bring about historical change in a country".
Qatar's reforms have inspired the Arab world.
In her speech, Kaili also complained about a general suspicion: Anyone who talks to Qataris, she said, is suspected of corruption.
Another incident is now making headlines: A few days ago, Kaili voted in the EU Parliament's Interior Committee to ease visa rules for Qatar.
However, Kaili is not a member of the committee.
In exceptional cases, a vote is still possible, for example to represent party friends.
However, Kaili's presence was apparently not agreed with the faction.
This is reported by "ZDF Today", citing two MPs.
The parliamentary group therefore only noticed during the vote that one social democrat was present too many.
As a result, a group member did not vote, initially it was assumed that there was a misunderstanding.
It was only afterwards that it was noticed that Kaili had voted.
SPD Vice-Parliament Katarina Barley said »ZDF today« that Kaili had »sat down at the very back, where normally only employees sit – far away from our group.
You could also say: She's hiding."
Qatar has been criticized for years for its poor human rights situation, including the ban on homosexuality and the exploitation of foreign migrant workers.
Numerous members of the then FIFA Executive Committee, which awarded the 2010 World Cup to Qatar, have now been convicted of corruption.
Qatar itself has always denied allegations of bribery.
Who else is the investigators targeting?
Especially Italians.
Kaili's partner
Francesco
Giorgi
was also arrested on Friday.
For his part, he is an employee of an EU parliamentarian and founder of an NGO called
»Fight Impunity«
.
According to the NGO, it fights against corruption.
Pier
Antonio
Panzeri
, the president of the NGO, was also arrested
.
He is quite a prominent figure in Italy and a former Social Democrat MEP.
According to "Politico", the investigating authorities accuse Panzeri of "intervening in favor of Qatar and Morocco" with members of the European Parliament.
His daughter and wife are under house arrest, and the offices of several parliamentarians associated with the NGO have been searched.
Panzeri is considered to be well connected in Brussels.
Several political heavyweights were linked to his NGO: former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, former EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, former MP Cecilia Wikstrom and former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held posts there.
At the weekend, they severed their ties to the organization.
According to Italian media reports, the investigators are also focusing on another NGO,
»No Peace Without Justice«
, which apparently operates under the same address as »Fight Impunity«.
According to »Le Soir«, the investigations have been conducted in the utmost secrecy since July 2022.
The investigators apparently also came across
Luca
Visentini
, Secretary General of the International Trade Union Confederation.
According to Belgian media reports, he was conditionally released on Sunday.
According to media reports , the house of Belgian MP
Marc
Tarabella
was also searched.
Tarabella is a social democrat.
His party quoted him before an internal party committee.
He told the Belga news agency: "I have absolutely nothing to hide and will answer all questions." The judiciary is only doing its job.
What is the dimension of the scandal?
The full extent is not yet foreseeable, especially since no verdict will be made for a long time.
Green MP Daniel Freund is already calling the affair one of the biggest corruption scandals in recent decades.
Michiel van Hulten, head of Transparency International, made a similar statement.
He speaks of a “culture of impunity”.
In fact, comparatively strict lobbying regulations apply in Brussels, but above all for companies - third countries have so far been exempt (read more here).
It is already clear that the reputation of the EU Parliament, and possibly that of the entire EU, will be damaged.
Populists and EU opponents are using the scandal to gain points.
Nigel Farage spoke of endemic corruption in Brussels on Sunday.
"Thank god we're out." Hungary's government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs wrote on Twitter that he was looking forward to the tweets from those MEPs who regularly took a stand against corruption.
What's next in the EU Parliament?
On Monday, the parliamentary group want to discuss Kaili's dismissal.
The vote on visa facilitation for Qatar will probably be postponed.
First of all, it must be ensured that MPs or their employees have not been influenced in the preparation of the draft text, said Green MP Erik Marquardt, who was in charge.