Belgian police arrested several people suspected of corruption, including EU Vice-President Kaili, a representative of a human rights NGO and a high-ranking trade unionist. Some of them recently commented remarkably positively on the labor market reforms of the World Cup host Qatar.
The EU Parliament is being shaken by a full-blown corruption scandal that focuses on Qatar, the host country of the World Cup. The Belgian police arrested five people on suspicion of "gang corruption and money laundering" - among them the Greek Vice President of Parliament, Eva Kaili, and her partner who works in the EU Parliament. There is a suspicion that Qatar tried to influence the decisions of the European Parliament with considerable sums of money and gifts.
Kaili, one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament, was arrested in her Brussels apartment on Friday evening and is being questioned by the police, sources familiar with the case said. Four Italians had previously been arrested, including Kaili's partner Francesco Giorgi, who works for the Social Democratic Group in the European Parliament.
Pier Antonio Panzeri was also taken away. He was a Social Democrat MEP from 2004 to 2019 and now heads the non-governmental organization Fight Impunity, which campaigns against impunity for human rights violations. The General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Luca Visentini, is also among those arrested.
The Belgian federal prosecutor only said that the country involved in the corruption case was a "Gulf state". He is suspected of "influencing the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament" by "paying considerable sums of money or giving away substantial gifts". The beneficiaries are personalities with a "politically and/or strategically important position" in the EU Parliament.
The AFP news agency was confirmed by circles familiar with the investigation that the Gulf state was Qatar. This had previously been reported by the Belgian daily newspaper "Le Soir" and the weekly newspaper "Knack" after joint research.
According to the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, a total of 16 searches took place in Brussels on Friday. The police confiscated cash in the amount of around 600,000 euros as well as data carriers and mobile phones, which are now being evaluated. It is therefore determined because of "gang corruption and money laundering".
The 44-year-old former TV presenter Kaili met with Qatari Labor Minister Ali bin Samich Al Marri shortly before the start of the soccer World Cup in Qatar. On behalf of the EU, she welcomed Qatar's commitment to "continue labor reforms." On November 22, Kaili said in the European Parliament that the soccer World Cup in Qatar was "concrete proof of how sports diplomacy can lead to a historic transformation of a country whose reforms have inspired the Arab world". Qatar is "a leader in labor rights". On the other hand, she accused some MEPs of "harassing" Qatar and being corrupt.
For years, NGOs have accused Qatar of violating the human rights of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Asia and Africa. In response, Doha enacted labor law reforms. However, trade unions are demanding more consistent implementation of the new rules.
ITUC General Secretary Visentini praised the improvement in the situation of workers in Qatar in an AFP interview earlier this week. At the same time, he called for "continued pressure on the authorities and employers" to achieve better wages and more mobility at work. The ITUC said on its website that it was aware of reports of corruption allegations against Visentini but was not commenting on them "at this stage".
Reports of poor treatment of migrant workers have overshadowed the current World Cup in Qatar for years. In 2021, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that 6,500 foreign workers had died in the rich Gulf state since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010. Qatar rejected this. According to the Doha government, 414 migrant workers died in workplace accidents between 2014 and 2020.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) documented around 50 fatal accidents at work in Qatar and 500 serious injuries in 2020. At the same time, the ILO emphasized that the relevant data is often not available.
