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A Greek MEP was suspended as a vice president of the European Parliament Saturday over a corruption probe implicating World Cup hosts Qatar that has ensnared four others and sparked calls for “root and branch reform” in the EU institution.
European Parliament president Roberta Metsola “has decided to suspend with immediate effect all powers, duties and tasks that were delegated to Eva Kaili in her capacity as Vice-President of the European Parliament,” a spokesperson said.
Earlier Saturday, Metsola said on Twitter that the parliament “stands firmly against corruption”, adding they would so everything they could to “assist the course of justice”.
Socialist MEP Eva Kaili was arrested on Friday hours after four others were detained for questioning.
The announcement came amid mounting outrage over the allegations and calls for action to tackle corruption inside the European Parliament.
“Over many decades, the Parliament has allowed a culture of impunity to develop, with a combination of lax financial rules and controls and a complete lack of independent (or indeed any) ethics oversight,” Transparency International’s director Michiel van Hulten said.
The European Parliament’s Greens group called for a full investigation into allegations of bribery by Qatar.
“We will not accept business as usual…,” the group said. “We must strengthen our rules so this cannot happen again.”
The European Parliament had “become a law unto itself”, said Van Hulten. “It is time for root and branch reform.”
Alberto Alemanno, a law professor based in Belgium, said the “scandal opens multiple Pandora’s boxes all at once”, including “flawed EU ethics system for MEPs” and the “scale of foreign influence over EU”.
Corruption, money laundering
At least three of the others arrested were either Italian citizens or originally came from Italy, a source…
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