Former European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili, who was arrested on suspicion of corruption linked to Qatar, voted in favor of liberalizing the visa regime for citizens of this country in a parliamentary committee, of which she was not a member.
On December 1, before the scandal now known as Cathargate was exposed, the European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs voted to liberalize visas for citizens of this Persian Gulf nation.
Citing the Spanish news agency EFE, sources in the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) parliamentary group to which the Greek MEP belonged said that Eva Kaili, who was ousted from the post of Vice President of the European Parliament after the exposure of the alleged bribery scheme, voted in favor of visa liberalization for citizens of Qatar in a parliamentary committee to which he did not belong.
At the time, Kylie “was neither a member nor a deputy of this parliamentary committee”, but the voting results document, available on the European Parliament’s website, shows that the Greek politician “voted for visa liberalization”. “, – indicate the same sources.
Sources also said that Kylie appeared on the parliamentary committee on the day of the vote “without prior notice” and “without appearing on the list of MPs” who will vote for visa liberalization on December 1.
Unnamed sources, citing EFE, acknowledged that this was “highly unusual and irregular” behavior.
“In addition, he was sitting at the end of the room, and not where the S&D delegation was,” the sources said.
According to sources, the information will be passed on to the leadership of the political group the day after the vote, after which the disciplinary process will begin.
Sources told EFE that S&D group president Spanish MP Iratse García Pérez had already scheduled a meeting with Kylie to discuss this “irregular behaviour,” also citing the board’s request for a visa liberalization report. return to the committee rather than having a vote in the plenary.
Together with Eva Kaili, the partner of the Greek MP and Italian adviser Francesco Giorgi, the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, as well as a lobbyist and director of a non-governmental organization (NGO) were also detained as part of Cathargate. “No peace, no justice”, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, also Italian.
They are all accused, as part of an investigation still ongoing by the Belgian authorities, of participating in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption in order to protect Qatar’s interests in European institutions (host of the 2022 edition of the World Cup), which has already denied involvement to attempts at corruption.
On Thursday, the European Parliament approved a resolution that suspends all legislative files related to Qatar and proposes to prevent representatives of the interests of this country from entering the institution’s buildings.
The visa exemption for Qatari citizens is one of the dossier that is suspended in accordance with the resolution, as well as all visits of MEPs to the country.
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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