The horizon of Greek MEP Eva Kaili, imprisoned in an alleged corruption scandal in the European Parliament involving Qatar, darkened on Thursday with her implicated in another case, linked to suspicions of fraud.
Stripped of her vice-presidency of the European Parliament on Tuesday, the 44-year-old elected socialist is currently detained in Belgium as part of a “corruption, money laundering and criminal organization file” within the European institution.
The affair caused shock waves in Brussels and Strasbourg, prompting the president of the assembly, Roberta Metsola, to announce “major reforms” for 2023.
Guest in La Matinale de Bel-RTL, Dominique Dussard, the president of Transparency International Belgium (an independent association that promotes transparency in politics), spoke regarding this affair.
Was he expecting a case of such magnitude? “We knew that the European Parliament was a little weak in terms of integrity processes, but we did not expect that now, when the World Cup is taking place in Qatar. That being so, it is intolerable and unlikely to the part of members of an assembly responsible for promoting the defense of Europe and its citizens, of becoming the spokesperson for the interests of other states”, he points out.
As a reminder, suitcases of tickets were found in the hands of MEPs, at the exit of a hotel, with their relatives, at their homes.
“It’s totally surreal”, reacts Dominique Dussard. “The good news is that this situation has dealt a terrible blow to the credibility and therefore to the confidence that we have in the European Parliament. It is unfortunate, because it is clear that the majority of members and teams who work there are doing a good job. There is a big problem because we have to recreate trust and credibility in this institution. The good news is that the justice system has seized on it and we can see that it provokes among citizens, for the press, within the European institutions, an earthquake. This must now lead to positive and concrete results.”
The large salaries (from 7,000 to 11,000 euros) of the European deputies did not prevent them from being corrupted.
“To avoid corruption, correct remuneration is a way of preventing temptation. Unfortunately, the people who constitute an assembly, an organization, are human. And you have human beings who even with a comfortable income allow themselves to be tempted. where the need for measures that will make it possible to reduce the risk of these slippages and also to identify them very early. It is true that it is shocking to see people who have very comfortable salaries still let themselves be tempted by this kind of behaviours”concludes Dominique Dussard.