Belgian authorities conduct searches at EU Parliament offices

BRUSSELS

The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office confirmed on Tuesday that they carried out searches at the European Parliament offices in connection with a corruption scandal.

The move came after two key suspects of the scandal – Greek politician Eva Kaili and Belgian EU lawmaker Marc Tarabella – were released from house arrest in May, and the latter resumed his work in the European Parliament.

The Belgian authorities declined to name whose offices were raided.

The EU has been shaken by one of the biggest corruption scandals in its history after Eva Kaili, a Greek MEP, was arrested on Dec. 9, 2022, by Belgian police on corruption charges.

Kaili, 44, from Greece's center-left PASOK-KINAL party and one of the European Parliament's 14 vice presidents, was arrested after her home was searched on corruption charges allegedly involving Qatar, which was accused of paying Kaili to lobby for the Gulf state's interests.

Also, up to €1.5 million ($1.62 million) in cash was seized by the Belgian police across dozens of home and office searches. In addition, parliamentary computers were also requisitioned to prevent the erasure of important data.

Former Italian EU lawmaker Pier Antonio Panzeri, current members of the EU Parliament Andrea Cozzolino and Marc Tarabella, as well as Kaili's partner Francesco Giorgi, who worked as an assistant in the EU institution, were also detained.

The alleged ringleader Panzeri and Cozzolino are still under arrest.