On Monday, the European Parliament opened an internal investigation into corruption charges against its deputy speaker, Eva Kayley.
And last Friday, the Belgian police arrested Greek MP Kylie, from the left-wing socialist “Pasok Kenal” party, after searching her house on charges of corruption, allegedly linked to the State of Qatar.
And local reports showed that Kylie’s father was also arrested after the police found a large amount of cash in his possession.
“This is a test of our values, our systems and our colleagues,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in a speech to members. “We will face this test head-on, and there will be no impunity.”
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“I got involved in politics, like many of you here, to fight corruption in order to defend the principles of Europe,” she added.
She indicated that Parliament would launch a “reform process to see who has access to EU buildings”.
“We will ask for more transparency about meetings with and links with foreign actors, and knowledge of how these NGOs and individuals obtain funding, and their relationships with third countries,” Mitsola said.
For its part, Qatar rejected the European allegations, saying they were “unfounded and seriously misleading”.
The Doha mission to the European Union said in a statement on Sunday: “Qatar categorically rejects any attempts to link it to accusations of misconduct” in the European Parliament.
“Any association of the Qatari government with the reported allegations is unfounded and seriously misleading,” it added.
The mission stated that “the Gulf countries work through partnership between institutions within the framework of full compliance with international laws and regulations.”
