Sawt Falasteen - New corruption scandal roils EU parliament

The new investigation comes more than two years after the "Qatargate" scandal, in which a number of EU lawmakers were accused of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco -- something both countries have firmly denied.

None of those held for questioning on Thursday were EU lawmakers, a police source told AFP.

Transparency campaigners, who have since accused EU lawmakers of resisting reform, called on the parliament to immediately investigate the latest claims.

Belgian newspaper Le Soir and investigative website Follow the Money (FTM) said the probe was linked to Chinese tech giant Huawei and its activities in Brussels since 2021. Huawei did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

The Belgian federal prosecutor's office said several people were taken in for questioning over their "alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries".

The prosecutor's office gave no details about the individuals or companies involved, while Belgian police neither confirmed nor denied that it was Huawei.

But prosecutors said the alleged corruption by a "criminal organisation" was "practised regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day" and took "various forms".

These included "remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches" as part of a bid to promote "purely private commercial interests" in political decisions.

The alleged kickbacks were concealed as conference expenses and paid to various intermediaries, the office said, adding it was looking at whether money laundering had also been involved.

About 100 police officers took part in the operation that saw a total of 21 searches conducted across Belgium and in Portugal, it added.

Le Soir daily said the Portuguese search focused on a company through which transfers had allegedly been made to one or more EU lawmakers.

- 'Mockery of democracy' -

At the heart of the alleged corruption is an ex-parliamentary assistant who was employed as Huawei's EU public affairs director, Belgian media said.

Huawei has been in the EU's crosshairs in recent years.

Brussels in 2023 described the telecoms giant as a higher risk to the bloc than other 5G suppliers and called on EU states to exclude its equipment from their mobile networks.

Le Soir said police had taken "several lobbyists" into custody and they were due to appear in front of a judge for questioning.

A spokesperson for the European Parliament -- the only EU body elected directly by the bloc's citizens -- told AFP that it "takes note of the information. When requested it always cooperates fully with the judicial authorities".

Transparency defenders were scathing in their criticism of the parliament's lack of wide-ranging reforms after the 2022 scandal.

"These new allegations are as sweeping and serious as Qatargate and make a mockery of democracy at the European Parliament. For too long, MEPs have taken a carefree approach to ethics and continue to exist in a culture of impunity," said Nicholas Aiossa, director at Transparency International EU.

He urged swift and deep reform in the parliament, a call echoed by former transparency campaigner and current Green EU lawmaker, Daniel Freund.

"This painfully shows that following Qatargate the EU remains vulnerable to corruption. Some reforms are still being blocked," Freund told AFP, adding: "We finally need independent oversight for ethics violations."

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST