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.
