Members of the European Parliament, a large part of their staff and a legion of lobbyists and journalists have begun their monthly pilgrimage to Strasbourg this morning from all over the continent. On the session's agenda, a debate tomorrow Tuesday on how to defend European democracies against foreign interference. Ironically, on Friday morning, an investigation by the Belgian Prosecutor's Office discovered that the institution itself had been the victim of an attempted interference by a foreign country, Qatar in this case, a bribery scheme for which it is being investigated. one of its vice-presidents, the Greek Eva Kaili.
The case - probably the biggest case of corruption ever uncovered in the European institutions - is a bitter gift for the European Parliament, which this year precisely turns 70. The Greek MEP, a loose verse within Pasok and the European socialist group, has been in prison, along with three other people, since last Friday. The latest communications from the Belgian Prosecutor's Office and journalistic information from the Belgian media that gave the scoop, allow an approximate reconstruction of the 72 hours that have made Brussels tremble.
The operation of the anti-corruption unit of the Belgian police began, according to Le Soir, a few steps from the European Parliament, on Wiertz street, at the gates of the home of Kaili and her partner, Francesco Giorgio, parliamentary adviser. Parliamentary immunity prevented the agents from entering the house, but as soon as Giorgi left through the garage, he was stopped by the agents. It is the first of 16 house searches carried out practically at the same time in different parts of Brussels.
The one who no longer has immunity is the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, who left his seat in 2019, but has remained very present in the corridors of the institution due to his activity as a lobbyist for the NGO Fight Impunity. The agents who enter his house find around 600,000 euros in cash. Panzeri is arrested and taken to testify before the judge together with Giorgi, Luca Visentini, recently elected secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, and Niccolò Figà-Talamanca, head of the NGO No Peace Without Justice, which shares headquarters with Fight Impunity.
The Belgian Public Ministry publishes a statement in which it announces that it has spent "several months" investigating the possible attempt by "a Gulf country to include the European Parliament in the economic and political decisions by handing over significant amounts of money and important gifts to people in relevant political or strategic positions" within the institution. The newspaper Le Soir and the weekly Knack, which have advanced the news of the macro-raid, reveal that the country in question is Qatar, organizer of the current World Cup and the detained former parliamentarian, Panzeri. The searches have focused on the environment of MEP assistants (unlike the latter, they do not have immunity). But the trade is still open and is about to move to a new level.
Police continue to monitor Vice President Kaili's surroundings. The agents question the father of the MEP while he was leaving the Sofitel hotel, in the European quarter of Brussels. As confirmed by sources close to the investigation on Saturday, the man was in possession of large amounts of cash. As published today by Le Soir, he did not carry it in bags as he reported that day, but in a trolley-type suitcase. From that moment on, the agents consider that they have enough incriminating elements to act against Kaili.
Accompanied by the investigating judge himself, Michel Claise, a specialist in financial crime, a dozen agents headed to the home of the vice-president of the European Parliament. They did not expect to take such a step so soon, but the judge considered that in view of the findings Kaili could not evoke parliamentary immunity. In the search of her house, the agents found several handbags and travel bags full of cash in 20 and 50 euro bills, in addition to gifts apparently received from Qatar. This money, as well as the money seized from her father, is added to the 600,000 found in the morning at Panzeri's house.
The agents of the Belgian judicial police enter the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels, practically empty, and go to the area of the European socialist group. The offices of the parliamentary assistants of Marc Tarabella and Maria Arena (French-speaking Belgians of Italian origin) are searched and sealed. Arena, which has supported many of the causes defended by Panzeri in the European Parliament through Fight Impunity, links the investigation to the fact that her assistant worked for the NGO until a few months ago.
After spending their first night in prison, the detainees file one by one to testify before Judge Claise. Kaili's father is released after hearing testimony from him. According to sources of the investigation consulted by Le Monde, the judge came to the conclusion that he simply acted as a "carrier". The investigations continue.
The investigating judge considers that he has sufficient elements to order a search at Tarabella's private home in Wallonia. The Belgian Constitution explicitly provides that the President of the European Parliament is present in the event of a house search of a Belgian Member of Parliament. Roberta Metsola, who was in Malta, is immediately required to Brussels.
The Maltese conservative, who a few hours before had published a statement in which she promised full support for the action of justice, flies back to the community capital. They have until 21:00. They arrive on time. The agents seize a mobile phone and computer equipment. Tarabella went from being very skeptical about the opportunity to give Qatar the World Cup to ardently defending its advances in human rights before the international press.
Before the maximum period of 48 hours that the detainees could be in prison without charges expired, the judge decided to charge four of the detainees with "membership of a criminal organization, corruption and money laundering." Two other people who were still detained are released. The official statement, which now officially raises the number of people arrested to six, does not report the identities of the people who are still arrested, but unofficially sources close to the investigation confirm to the press that they are Kaili, Panzeri, Giorgo and Figà-Talamanca.
It is believed that Visentini, the highest representative of the international unions, has been released, although it is not clear how the Prosecutor's Office counts the detainees at each moment and other sources indicate that a parliamentary adviser linked in this case was also released. case to the European People's Party.
Minutes after confirming the charges against the four detainees for the scandal, which began to be known as Qatargate, the emirate's embassy in Brussels released a statement in which it "categorically rejects any attempt to associate the country with inappropriate conduct." "The State of Qatar works through relations between institutions and operates in full compliance with international laws and regulations," said the statement, published on his Twitter account, where there are photographs of the high-level meetings that the Qatari government maintains with countries all over the world. The privileged interlocutor with representatives of the European Parliament in recent months has been the Minister of Labour, Ali bin Samikh Al Marri.
Still in the shock of the weekend news, the European Parliament is preparing to begin its last plenary session of the year in the Alsatian capital. Metsola plans to meet with the leaders of the political groups to assess the situation before the start of the plenary session, at 5:00 p.m., at which time he will probably speak about the issue before the MEPs, according to parliamentary sources. A meeting of the European Parliament table is also scheduled, a body made up of President Metsola and the 14 vice-presidents, of whom at least one is missing, Eva Kaili. The European socialist group will propose today to withdraw the position of the Pasok deputy, who today has seen all her assets and bank accounts in Greece frozen by decision of the judicial authorities of the Hellenic country.
