STRASBOURG [Europe], Dec 24: The world has been taken aback by the revelation of a scandal in the European Parliament (EP) which involves illicit lobbying activities by Qatar, according to a report in The Singapore Post.
The report also says that: “Sabotage of the EP, an important diplomatic body known for applying pressure to hostile regimes or those that engage in human rights abuses or anti-democratic behaviour, threatens to blow up into a major crisis at the heart of the European Union.” The Belgian police in coordination with Europol searched 16 homes and detained four people around Brussels on December 9, 2022, as part of an inquiry into corruption, criminal organization and money laundering.
The search operations led to the seizure of over EUR600,000 worth of cash in denominations of EUR100 EUR200 and EUR500 notes. The arrests took place after an intensive six-month-long investigation into the corruption and lobbying activities of the European Parliament.
European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili was among those detained. Kaili has been accused of abusing her power to portray Qatar as a frontrunner in labour rights even though there are global concerns about the conditions of Qatar’s stadium workers.
“Qatar, earlier in 2022, through its influence on Kaili, got the visit of a delegation of EU politicians cancelled. Instead, they made Kaili travel alone to Qatar to provide a favourable assessment on workers’ rights and other such issues with regard to the construction of stadiums for the football world cup,” reported The Singapore Post.
With the revelation of this scandal, questions are being asked about whether the bid in 2010 to host the football world cup 2022, which was awarded to Qatar, was legitimate.
“As the situation unfolds, it will be interesting to watch whether the EU will take a strong stand against Qatar or try to cover up the scandal under the pressure of Qatar being a major gas provider to European countries,” The Singapore Post.
“This is probably the most shocking integrity scandal in the history of the EU. It has dented the legitimacy of the EU that was looked up to as a champion of human rights and a voice against criminality. Now, onlookers are seeing EU as an organization that can be bought off to pass laws in favour of undemocratic regimes that do not share the values of the EU,” according to The Singapore Post report. (ANI)
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