The Qatari Foreign Minister denied this Wednesday that his country is involved in the corruption scandal linked to the European Parliament, guaranteeing, in a meeting with the European Union diplomacy leader, that it is “misleading information”.
“I secured [ao representante da União Europeia para a Política Externa] Josep Borrell that this is misleading information spread erroneously by the media involving the name of Qatar in the matter,” Mohamed bin Abderrahman said.
The call catarge was revealed last week, when Belgian police searched the homes and offices of MEPs and group assistants in the European Parliament (EP) and accused several MEPs, including a vice-president, of having received money from Qatar and Morocco to influence economic decisions in Brussels.
In a meeting held today in Jordan, the two heads of diplomacy from Qatar and the European Union spoke about the case and agreed on “the need to let the ongoing investigations clarify” the situation, according to what they admitted in messages posted online. social Twitter.
Qatar had already “categorically rejected” information about its alleged involvement in the scandal, but this was the first time that a senior official from the Arab country had spoken openly about it.
The operation carried out by the Belgian police resulted in the arrest, among others, of the former vice president of the EP Eva Kalil, her partner, Francesco Giorgi, who has already acknowledged his participation in the plot, and the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
Searches last week led to the seizure of around 1.5 million euros in cash at the homes of Kaili and Panzeri and in a suitcase held by the father of the Greek MEP, who has since been ousted from his position as vice president of the EP.
Despite the fact that he is no longer vice-president of the EP or of the group of Socialists and Democrats, Kaili is still an MEP, not a member.
The Monday edition of the newspaper Le Soir, which refers to having had access to the investigation, says that Kaili admitted to investigators that she asked her father to hide part of the thousands of euros that were in her house, having taken a suitcase with money to the Sofitel hotel, where the MEP’s father was staying.
However, the MEP’s lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, told the Kathimerini website that Eva Kaili transferred responsibility to Antonio Panzeri.
Eva “Kaili never admitted to asking her father to withdraw the money” [da sua casa] and hide it,” said Dimitrakopoulos, adding that the MEP “just found out about the existence of the money moments before the raids and asked for its immediate return to the owner, Mr. [Antonio] Panzeri”.
A court in the Italian city of Brescia has postponed until January a decision on a Belgian prosecutor’s request to extradite Panzeri’s daughter, Silvia, also linked to the alleged corruption scandal, but has decided to extradite Panzeri’s wife, Maria Dolores Colleoni, because there are “serious indications of guilt.”
Source: TSF
