Francesco Giorgi acknowledged his prominent role in the corruption scheme, but called for the immediate release of the former vice-president of the European Parliament. Metsola has announced a reform to detect more cases.
Almost a week after his arrest, along with his companion Eva Kaili, now a former vice-president of the European Parliament (EP), Francesco Giorgi admitted to the Belgian authorities that he was involved in a corruption scheme aimed at influencing the decisions of the European Parliament. public body in favor of Qatar and Morocco. An Italian who works as an aide to a parliamentarian in Brussels took part in the network, which is known to involve more than 1.5 million euros. However, during an audience on Wednesday at the Palace of Justice, he asked to let go of his girlfriend, from whom he has a daughter.
“I did it for the money, not because I had to,” Giorgi justified himself, pointing to former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri as the mastermind behind the scheme, in whose house 600,000 euros were found. Giorgi apologized to his companion in line with what Kylie’s lawyer defended, despite the fact that 150 thousand euros were found in the couple’s common room, promising to do “everything possible” so that the former Greek TV star is released and can “take care” of 22 month old daughter.
In addition to Francesco Giorgi, Eva Kaili and Antonio Panzeri, Alexandros Kailis, the father of the former leader of Brussels, is also under investigation for involvement in Cathargate, as he had a suitcase with an estimated 650,000 euros. However, Kylie’s boyfriend, according to Le Soir and La Repubblica, who had access to court documents, is implicated in the case of two more MEPs, indicating that the investigation may be far from over.
Giorgi, one of the members of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Sem Paz Sem Justiça, led by the Italian Niccolò Figa-Talamanca, will be primarily responsible for collecting bribes in exchange for benefits for the countries involved in the scheme, which will include, among other things, the cleansing the image of a Middle Eastern state in the European Union (EU). However, he also named Andrea Cozzolino, head of the European Parliament’s Maghreb Delegation, and Marc Tarabella as the two main figures in the corruption network.
Speaking to authorities, the Italian explained that he made payments to an organization that Qatar used to bribe MEPs and parliamentary aides in order to gain political and economic advantages in the public bloc.
Qatar Travel and tickets for the 2022 World Cup
An example of a Qatari lobby, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola emphasized yesterday, was offers of travel to parliamentarians, as well as the delivery of tickets so that they could attend the 2022 World Cup games, for several positions in the European Parliament, suggesting that she was also invited to attend the football championship, but she refused. because she had “concerns about this country”, citing alleged human rights violations committed as part of a sporting event.
To avoid a recurrence of cases like this, Metsola assured that “there will be no impunity” by committing, together with EU leaders, to outline an anti-corruption reform to be introduced early next year.
“The information we have received from the Belgian authorities indicates that there are serious suspicions about people associated with autocratic governments who practice influence peddling in a way that we suspect is aimed at subduing our processes,” he said.
Metsola has pledged to implement proposals that include “banning all informal friendship groups” that are sometimes sponsored by lobbying middlemen and foreign governments. Another of the measures to be discussed should be to prevent representatives of third countries from entering the premises of the European Assembly, especially in relation to the Qatari authorities.
Putin has repeatedly consulted with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the invasion, Europa Press told Ukraine’s chief intelligence director Vadim Skibitsky.
According to Skibitsky, it was the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which is responsible for counterintelligence and espionage work, that put pressure on Gerasimov and other military agencies to agree to launch an offensive. .
However, according to the Ukrainian intelligence services, the FSB considered that by the end of February sufficient preparations had already been made to guarantee the success of the Russian Armed Forces in a lightning invasion.
However, according to Kyiv, the Russian General Staff provided the Russian troops with supplies and ammunition for only three days, hoping that the offensive would be swift and immediately successful.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence also emphasized the cooperation of local residents, who always provided the Ukrainian authorities with up-to-date information about the Russian army, such as the number of soldiers or the exact location of troops.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
A Stockholm court on Monday sentenced a former Swedish intelligence officer to life in prison for spying for Russia, and his brother to at least 12 years in prison. In what is considered one of the most serious cases in Swedish counterintelligence history, much of the trial took place behind closed doors in the name of national security.
According to the prosecution, it was Russian military intelligence, the GRU, who took advantage of the information provided by the two brothers between 2011 and their arrest at the end of 2021.
Peyman Kia, 42, has held many senior positions in the Swedish security apparatus, including the army and his country’s intelligence services (Säpo). His younger brother, Payam, 35, is accused of “participating in the planning” of the plot and of “managing contacts with Russia and the GRU, including passing on information and receiving financial rewards.”
Both men deny the charges, and their lawyers have demanded an acquittal on charges of “aggravated espionage,” according to the Swedish news agency TT.
The trial coincides with another case of alleged Russian espionage, with the arrest of the Russian-born couple in late November in a suburb of Stockholm by a police team arriving at dawn in a Blackhawk helicopter.
Research website Bellingcat identified them as Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Kulkova. The couple allegedly acted as sleeper agents for Moscow, having moved to Sweden in the late 1990s.
According to Swedish press reports, the couple ran companies specializing in the import and export of electronic components and industrial technology.
The man was again detained at the end of November for “illegal intelligence activities.” His partner, suspected of being an accomplice, has been released but remains under investigation.
According to Swedish authorities, the arrests are not related to the trial of the Kia brothers.
“They can strengthen their positions. We understand that this can happen. At the same time, we do not rule out that they will announce a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online publication.
Danilov believed that this mobilization would also be convened “to exterminate as many as possible” of Russian citizens, so that “they would no longer have any problems on their territory.”
In this sense, Danilov also reminded that Russia has not given up on securing control over Kyiv or the idea of the complete “destruction” of Ukraine. “We have to be ready for anything,” he said.
“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up on the idea of destroying our nation. If they don’t have Kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we must understand this,” continued Danilov, who also did not rule out that a new Russian offensive would come from “Belarus and other territories.” .
As such, Danilov praised the decision of many of its residents who chose to stay in the Ukrainian capital when the war broke out in order to defend the city.
“They expected that there would be panic, that people would run, that there would be nothing to protect Kyiv,” he added, referring to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine caused at least 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million refugees to European countries, which is why the UN classifies this migration crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). gg.). ).
At the moment, 17.7 million Ukrainians are in need of humanitarian assistance, and 9.3 million are in need of food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion, justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN has presented as confirmed 6,755 civilian deaths and 10,607 wounded since the beginning of the war, stressing that these figures are much lower than the real ones.
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