Cathar criticized the European Parliament (EP) for banning its representatives from working in the institution, warning that this “discriminatory” move could harm the wider European Union Cooperation (EU) and Qatar, where the bloc depends on Doha, also in the field of energy, writes “Politico”.
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The European Parliament last week barred Qatari representatives from the institution’s premises and suspended legislation relating to the country, which includes visa liberalization and scheduled visits. The moves followed allegations of corruption related to attempts to influence European Parliament officials.
“The decision to impose such a discriminatory cap (…) will negatively impact regional and global security cooperation, as well as ongoing discussions on poverty and global energy security,” a Qatari diplomat said on Sunday in a statement, according to which from the media. The statement added that the decision “shows that MPs have been significantly misled”.
EU countries have increasingly turned to Qatar in a bid to diversify energy supplies and make up for shortfalls related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Germany last month signing a 15-year deal to import of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Doha supplied a quarter of EU LNG imports last year.
Belgium Authorities charged four people with ties to the European Parliament, including one of the institution’s vice-presidents, Eva Kaili, with “criminal organisation, corruption and money laundering” over allegations that they accepted payments in exchange for pro-Qatari decisions in the European Parliament. Kaili has since been suspended, while authorities have raided at least 20 homes and offices in Belgium, Greece and Italy in recent days.
Qatar has also criticized Belgium for failing to inform the Gulf state of the investigation, which Belgian authorities say took more than a year before the first arrests this month.
