The European Commission is investigating whether Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner of the Interior between 2014 and 2019, met the conditions under which he was authorized in 2021 to cooperate with the NGO Fight Impunity, in connection with alleged bribery in the European Parliament.
“We are carrying out internal checks and will of course contact the former Commissioner for more details if necessary”European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer revealed at a press conference on Monday.
the former commissioner “is an honorary member of the organization (…) and had a power of attorney with restrictions from the Commission on February 3, 2021, on the advice of the independent ethics committee” of the executive branch of the European Union (EU), the spokesperson added.
“At this point, we have no reason to believe that this was not the case.”which has not fulfilled the conditions, the spokesman underlined, but added that the Commission was not aware of the amount of compensation received by the Greek politician from the non-governmental organization (NGO).
The payments received by the former commissioner amounted to €60,000 a year, according to information revealed by Avramopoulos himself, also a former mayor of Athens and several times minister in his country between 2004 and 2014 with the portfolios of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Health and tourism.
The founder and president of the NGO Fight Impunity – which aims to defend human rights – was former Italian socialist MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, who was charged with alleged criminal organization, money laundering and corruption, and arrested on December 9 by the Belgian police, who are investigating the case.
As part of the investigation accusing several MEPs of the European Parliament (EP), including former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly (sacked last week) Eva Kaili, parliamentary assistants, trade unionists and lobbyists, the Belgian police found 700 thousand euros in Panzeri’s house in Brussels.
This Monday, a court in the Italian region of Brescia will review the case to decide whether the wife of Pier Antonio Panzeri, the Italian who Belgian prosecutors say is at the center of an allegedly illegal lobby by Qatar for political decisions in the European institutions, has been arrested.
According to arrest warrants issued by Belgian judge Michel Claise and consulted by the Associated Press (AP) on Monday, Panzeri is “suspected of interfering with MEPs working in the EP for the benefit of Qatar and Morocco in exchange for payment” of large sums of money and donations .
Panzeri’s wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni, and daughter, Sílvia Panzeri, are suspected of being “fully aware” of his activities and even helping to transport “gifts”.
Both are under house arrest near Brescia.
Former EP vice-president, Greek MP Eva Kaili, remains in pre-trial detention in Belgium pending a hearing on Thursday, as does her partner, Francesco Giorgi, a parliamentary adviser.
The ‘Qatargate’ scandal is shaking up European institutions and EP President Roberta Metsola reaffirmed this Monday that there will be “zero tolerance for corruption” in the institution, having already promised last week during an intervention in the hemicycle, reforms in that sense.
“Let’s take this challenge head on”Metsola told the press in Bucharest, where he will meet Romania’s president, Klaus Iohannis, and prime minister, Nicolae Ciuca. this case.
Source: DN
