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BRUSSELS , 12 Dec (AP)\u2014 The European Union\u2019s top official said Monday that the allegations of corruption targeting a vice-president of the European Parliament are of \u201cutmost concern\u201d as she called for the creation of an independent ethics body covering all of the bloc\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n
Belgian prosecutors charged four people over the weekend with corruption, being part of a criminal group and money laundering in connection with a major investigation into influence peddling at the European Union\u2019s parliament.<\/p>\n
The lobbying scandal has already seen parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili of Greece relieved of her duties. Authorities have not identified the Gulf country suspected of offering cash or gifts to officials at the parliament in exchange for political favors, but several members of the assembly and some Belgian media have linked the investigation to Qatar.<\/p>\n
Qatar\u2019s foreign ministry has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, said the accusations against Kaili are threatening the confidence that EU citizens put in the 27-nation bloc\u2019s institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis confidence and trust in our institutions need highest standards of independence and integrity,\u201d von der Leyen told a news conference.<\/p>\n
As lobbying activities at EU level lack comprehensive regulation, she said the independent ethics body she proposes would not only cover activities at the Commission, Council and Parliament, but also at the European Central Bank, European Court of Justice and European Court of Auditors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe principles of having such an ethics body where there are very clear rules on what has to be checked, how and when and what has to be published, how and when would be a big step forward,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The federal prosecutor\u2019s office, without identifying any individual, said four of six people detained on Friday have been charged. The other two have been released.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors have confirmed that one member of the Parliament was arrested but declined to confirm it is Kaili. They said they suspect \u201cthe payment of large sums of money, or the offer of significant gifts\u201d to people holding strategic positions at the European Parliament capable of influencing decisions.<\/p>\n
In Athens, Greek government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said the case of Kaili \u201cis a very serious case that is in the hands of Belgian justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case, he said, \u201ccreates one more rift in the credibility and trust in European institutions and the European Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
The scandal broke as the EU Parliament begins its last plenary session of the year in Strasbourg, France, later on Monday.<\/p>\n
Manon Aubry, the Left group\u2019s co-president at Parliament, said that her group will ask for a debate and a resolution on the scandal, with the aim of implementing \u201cway stricter rules.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe battle continues: Our democracy is not for sale,\u201d she said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola relieved Kaili, a 44-year-old former TV news anchor, of her duties over the weekend. Kaili also was suspended by her party in Greece and the EU assembly\u2019s Socialists and Democrats group on Friday after the raids, in which police also seized around 600,000 euros ($633,500) in cash, computer equipment and mobile telephones.<\/p>\n
Kaili\u2019s party in Greece, the Socialist Pasok-Movement for Change, publicly distanced itself from remarks she made in the EU parliament last month praising Qatar, which is currently hosting soccer\u2019s gala event, the World Cup.<\/p>\n
Qatar has come under heavy international pressure to introduce labor reforms in recent years as it sought to build new World Cup stadiums in record time, often using migrant workers who toiled for long hours under harsh conditions.<\/p>\n
The EU and Qatar have strengthened their economic relationships since the start of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine. As European countries have supported Ukraine after Russia\u2019s invasion in February, Moscow has slashed supplies of natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry.<\/p>\n
That has created an energy crisis that is fueling inflation and increasing pressure on companies as prices have risen, with the EU looking for alternatives to buy liquefied natural gas on a long-term basis, notably in Qatar.<\/p>\n
In April, the European Commission also proposed to lift visa requirements for short stays in the region for nationals of Qatar.<\/p>\n
Asked whether Belgian authorities had been in touch with the European Commission as part of their investigation, von der Leyen said she had no clue. \u201cI would have to ask my staff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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BRUSSELS , 12 Dec (AP)\u2014 The European Union\u2019s top official said Monday that the allegations of corruption targeting a vice-president of the European Parliament are of \u201cutmost concern\u201d as she called for the creation of an independent ethics body covering all of the bloc\u2019s institutions. Belgian prosecutors charged four people over the weekend with corruption, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-206792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}