Banned from entering Qatar’s representative parliament… Visa Waiver Program Danger
Suspected of corruption, the former vice president’s roommate confessed to the allegations
The European Parliament, agitated by allegations of a “lobbying scandal” in Qatar, has decided to suspend discussions related to Qatar.
According to Bloomberg News on the 15th (local time), the European Parliament has agreed to completely suspend the legislative procedures related to Qatar and ban Qatari officials from entering parliament.
As a result, Qatar’s required EU visa-free program for its citizens, as well as plans to expand air routes to open up the EU-Qatar market, are very likely to fail.
“These crimes are destroying European democracy and everything we stand for,” said European Parliament president Roberta Mezzola, referring to the Qatar-related corruption allegations.
Earlier, Belgian investigators said they had obtained six recruits and accused four of them of receiving bribes from “Gulf countries” for lobbying the European Parliament.
Local media see Qatar as the Gulf country in question.
The controversy escalated as the targets of the arrest included Pierre-Antonio Pancheri of Italy, a former member of the European Parliament, and Greece’s Eva Kylie, who was sacked from her post as vice-president over the incident.
On the 14th, the investigative authorities also revealed that they had secured at least 1.5 million euros (about 2.09 billion won) in cash as evidence during the search and seizure process.
President Mezzola has begun to evolve by foreshadowing major reforms, but does not rule out the possibility that further allegations of corruption within the EU will be uncovered.
Notably, Reuters reported that the investigation took a new turn when Kylie’s roommate and congressional aide Francesco Giorzo, who had denied the allegations, recently confessed to accepting bribes.
According to the report, the aide is also known to have testified to investigating authorities that Belgian MP Marc Tarrabella and Italian MP Andrea Cozzolino were involved in receiving Qatari funds.
All of the people reported, including Kylie, deny the allegations and it has not been confirmed whether the aide presented any specific physical evidence.
The Qatari side sent a statement to Reuters, denying that “the link between the reported information and the Qatari government is not only unfounded but also completely misleading.”
/yunhap news
