Qatargate: The dimensions of the scandal that is shaking Europe

December 9 is “commemorated” internationally as World Anti-Corruption Day. To “highlight” this year’s December 9, the European Union’s statistical office (Eurostat) posted on its website last Friday a theme about European citizens and the extent to which they trust not only the European institutions in general but the European Parliament in particular.

“Do you trust the European Parliament? How many people have the same opinion as you in your country?»: This was one of the questions on the Eurostat website, a question to which 50% of all Europeans, 46% of Italians, 56% of Greeks and 49% of Belgians answered negatively.

And all this, before the revelations surrounding the so-called Qatargate. Because on December 9, against the backdrop of the World Anti-Corruption Day, the scandal of former and current MEPs accused of corruption who allegedly received gifts and sums of money from Qatar in order to influence European decisions in favor of Doha would “explode”.

So far, the 44-year-old MEP has been at the center of this scandal Eva Kailithe 67-year-old former MEP and former head of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights Antonio Panzerithe long-time member of the European Parliament (Kylie’s partner) Francesco Giorgithe 53-year-old General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Luca Vizentini and the head of the non-governmental organization No Peace Without Justice Nikolo Figa Talamanca etc.

The Belgian authorities also carried out a search on Saturday at the home of another Belgian MEP in Brussels, the Mark Tarabellawhile today the searches would continue in the offices of the European Parliament, houses and rooms in the Belgian capital.

The investigations so far have brought to light shocking unifying facts: a suitcase with hundreds of thousands of euros in a hotel room in Brussels, 600,000 euros in just one residence (presumably the Antonio Panzeri), 150,000 in the apartment of an MEP (the reports claim that this is Mrs. Kaili’s apartment) etc.

As part of her responsibilities, Eva Kaili, as vice-president of the European Parliament, was empowered to handle Middle East issues on behalf of President Roberta Metzola, while Tarabella (who has not yet been charged or detained) was vice-president of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula.

As for Panzeri, the former MEP of the Italian Democratic Party (PD) who subsequently moved to the Articolo Uno faction, he has been “doing it” for the last few years in Brussels as the head of the non-governmental organization Fight Impunity campaigning… against the impunity of those who violate human rights.

All of the above were close to Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament. Many of them were active in the field of defending human rights and had contacts with countries in the Middle East and the Arab world. Almost all of them had, “coincidentally”, woven his eulogy Catarrh in the past, in the context of public interventions and statements.

His No Peace Without Justice Nikolo Figa Talamanca had “coincidentally” tthe same address in Brussels as his Fight Impunity Antonio Panzeriwhile in Fight Impunity Eva’s partner Kaili also had a pivotal role Francesco Giorgi who was also working as a consultant on developments in North Africa and the Middle East.

Distances

Upon hearing the accusations, parties, party groups and officials rushed to “delete” the accused, with Eva Kaili now being excluded from PASOK, outside S&D and having now lost all the powers and responsibilities she had as vice-president of the European Parliament.

It is noted that in the last 24 hours an associate of the Belgian MEP (S&D) was also targeted by the Belgian investigations. Maria Arena which had succeeded Pancheri at the helm of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. The partner in question had allegedly also worked for Pancheri’s Fight Impunity, which Pancheri is now accused of having attempted political interventions in Brussels not only for the benefit of Qatar but also for the benefit of Morocco, as reported by Politico.

The 67-year-old Pancheri was apparently very well networked in Brussels where he was respected. Otherwise, he would not have managed to have as honorary members in Fight Impunity the former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the former head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini, the Italian former Foreign Minister Emma Bonino (who had also founded the non-governmental organization Non c’è Pace senza Giustizia – No Peace Without Justice which is now associated with Qatargate defendant Nicolo Figa Talamanca) and former MEP Cecilia Wikstrom.

All these “honorary” hastened in the last 24 hours to leave the organization of the 67-year-old Italian, while at the same time the MEPs are now taking steps back, distancing themselves from everything that could be considered the product of unfair Katarian influence.

At the start of the plenary session in Strasbourg today, MEPs decided, for example, to send back for further discussion the proposal that would exempt citizens of Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Ecuador from the visa requirement (‘visa’ ) for short-term stays in the EU. By the way, in the recent past Mrs. Kaili, among others, was in favor of this exemption. At the same time, the trip scheduled to be made to Qatar in the coming weeks by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee was also cancelled.

In other words, the leaders of the European institutions are now running to limit the damage from a scandal that has only just begun to unfold and may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in the history of the EU so far.

For many, the damage has already been done, with European credibility and commitment to the rule of law now badly damaged as European officials are called upon to explain how there could be non-governmental organisations, countries, politicians and lobbyists who did not feel no obligation to obey elementary rules of transparency and accountability. And this, not in some distant offshore “paradise” of nebulous jurisdiction but in the very heart of the European Union.

In Brussels they may be worried, but at the same time leaders like Viktor Orbán of Hungary are celebrating.

News today

Follow kathimerini.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, at kathimerini.gr