Greek Socialist MEP Eva Kaili, one of the European Parliament’s vice-presidents, was arrested on Friday night in Brussels in an investigation into suspected corruption involving Qatar, a source familiar with the matter said.
In the Belgian capital there had already been four other arrests in the morning for the same case. Eva Kaili, who is the companion of one of these four suspects, was “detained for interview” by the police, this source said.
In Athens, the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok-Kinal), of which Eva Kaili is a member, announced late at night that she had been “fired”.
Sums of money or gifts
At the center of the investigation, led by an investigating judge from Brussels: the actions of a “Gulf country” suspected of “influencing the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament, paying substantial sums of money or offering important gifts”, said the Federal Public Ministry.
As for the beneficiaries, they are personalities who have “a significant political and/or strategic position” within the European Parliament.
Among the four detained are a parliamentary assistant attached to the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, who is a colleague of Ms Kaili, as well as former Italian MEP Pier-Antonio Panzeri, also a Socialist. The other two are a director of an NGO and a union leader of Italian nationality.
The US attorney’s office did not name the Gulf country in question. But the same source familiar with the matter confirmed press reports identifying Qatar.
Source: BFM TV
