The European Parliament should have considered facilitating entry visas for citizens of Kuwait and Qatar, but the issue was withdrawn from the agenda and the debate scheduled for Wednesday will focus on “defending democracies in the face of to foreign interference” and is expected to be switched on after a corruption scandal involving an MP, Speaker of Parliament and others.
And she said Kuwaiti newspaper Al-RaiThe European Parliament voted on Monday “in favor of a proposal to return the file for the exemption of Kuwaiti and Qatari nationals from visas (Schengen) to the parliamentary committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs”.
The newspaper added that the rapporteur of the report on the visa file, Eric Marquardt, said: ‘Ahead of the session which was held at the seat of the Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, I have decided, with the approval of the political groups , to return the file to the committee.”
And the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, announced on Monday that “European democracy is under attack”, pledging to reform the institution shaken by a sensational corruption scandal linked to Qatar.
🔴 LIVE | Declaration a @Europarl_IT #Eplenary in Strasbourg https://t.co/De0jCxXmjE
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) December 12, 2022
Belgian police carried out a search operation on the European Parliament offices in Brussels on Monday, the day after the arrest of the Greek vice-president, Eva Kaili.
Kylie, who holds one of the 14 posts of parliament deputy speaker, is suspected to have received sums from Doha to defend the interests of the emirate, which currently hosts FIFA World Cup matches.
Three other people were also jailed as part of this investigation.
The sums seized during the twenty raids that have taken place to date are staggering, as the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor has enumerated “600,000 euros in the home of a suspect, hundreds of thousands of euros in a purse seized in a hotel room in Brussels and around 150,000 euros in an apartment owned by a member of the European Parliament.
On Sunday, Mitsola expressed his “extreme anger and sadness” in Parliament, vowing that “there will be no impunity (…) nothing will be hidden”.
And he announced the opening of an “internal investigation to examine all the facts relating to the European Parliament” and verify the improvement of the mechanisms adopted in this body.
“We will launch a reform process to see who has access to our headquarters, how these organizations and NGOs and these people are funded, and what relations they have with third countries, and we will ask for more transparency on meetings with foreign actors,” he added. he said she.
No parliamentary immunity
Since Saturday evening, Mitsola has stripped his deputy of all his posts, including his representation in the Middle East. The Conference of Presidents, the political body of the European Parliament, is expected to start the voting mechanism on Tuesday morning to strip Kylie of the position of vice-president for making a “grave mistake”.
On Friday he was barred from the Greek Socialist Party, in which he was considered a controversial figure, and on Monday he was barred from his political bloc in the European Parliament.
Greece’s anti-money laundering authority also announced a freeze on all of its assets on Monday.
And Kylie was denied her parliamentary immunity because she was caught in the act when “bags full of securities” were found in her apartment.
The question of whether to detain or release her, along with the other three detainees, will be discussed on Wednesday in front of the Council Chamber in Brussels.
And on Monday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that suspicions of corruption are “very disturbing. It is a matter of trust in people who are at the heart of our institutions”, noting that she has proposed the establishment of a “independent authority” to address ethical issues.
For its part, Qatar has denied any involvement in the case, and a Qatari government official told AFP on Saturday that “any allegations of misconduct by the state of Qatar are a grave error.”
Eva Kayley, the 44-year-old former TV presenter, elected in January 2022 as Vice-President of the European Parliament, visited Qatar in early November, where she gave praise, in the presence of Qatar’s Labor Minister, Ali bin Samikh Al-Marri , the reforms implemented by the country in terms of working conditions.
On 22 November, he said from the rostrum of the European Parliament, “the organization of the World Cup in Qatar demonstrates the historic transformation of a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world”.
