The bribery mess shaking the Parliament takes attention away from other important EU decisions. Ultimately, the entire EU’s credibility is at stake, writes ‘s EU correspondent Rikhard Husu.
Rikhard HusuEU correspondent
The bribery mess surrounding the EU Parliament overshadows the last plenary session of the year to be held in Strasbourg. Instead of the agenda of the session, attention is focused on the actions of individual parliamentarians and assistants.
The background is the Belgian authorities’ suspicion that the Persian Gulf country has tried to buy itself influence in the EU Parliament.
who were in the Belgian media according to the information (you will switch to another service) the country under investigation would be Qatar. However, Qatar has denied the accusations.
The focus of the scandal is Greek parliamentarian Eva Kaili, whose up-and-coming political career was tied to bundles of bills connected to him. Kaili has been detained since Friday.
Brussels court take a stand (you switch to another service) To the situation of Kail and the three other detainees today, Wednesday. The court will evaluate, among other things, whether Kail’s imprisonment should be continued.
Kaili has denied that he was aware of the money found in his apartment.
According to the latest information, the authorities’ investigations have also expanded to Strasbourg, where the office premises have been closed for the duration of the investigations.
Parliament drew its own conclusions About Kaili’s situation already yesterday, Tuesday, when Kaili was dismissed from the parliamentary bureau.
Now in Strasbourg, they are asking what the motive of the suspected bribe could be. Did Qatar want to float nice speeches into the plenary session of the parliament or is there something more serious behind it?
According to the online publication Politico, the background could be Qatar’s desire to influence to the aviation agreement between the EU and Qatar (you will switch to another service)which opens the doors to the European market for Qatar’s state-owned airline.
The scandal comes from the perspective of the EU at a bad time. The internal turmoil overshadows key projects for the EU, such as supporting Ukraine and the dispute with the United States about the rules of trade policy.
It’s like a pat on the back of Hungary Viktor Orbán for EU leaders like which can be canceled (you switch to another service) because the EU institutions concerned about corruption do not seem to be managing their own affairs properly.
The bribery mess is particularly embarrassing For the European Parliament, which has maintained a high profile regarding the principles of the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
One’s own lines must be straight so that others can be expected to be neat.
Corruption and abuses occur at all levels of society. The bribery scandal shows that EU institutions are not immune to suspicion.
Speaker of the Parliament Roberta Metsola has demanded a thorough internal and external investigation of the suspicions. It is the reputation of both the Parliament and the EU as a whole.
By intervening in problems, the parliament has the opportunity to show that the speeches related to values and the principles of the rule of law also have a concrete cover.