Belgian prosecutors make arrests in European Parliament corruption probe
The arrests come amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU politicians.
Several individuals have been arrested as part of a corruption investigation linked to the European Parliament, Belgian federal prosecutors have said.
The arrests come amid reports in local media that Chinese company Huawei bribed EU politicians.
Some 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels as well as in Flanders, Wallonia and Portugal, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
The suspects were arrested for questioning in “connection with their alleged involvement in active corruption within the European Parliament, as well as for forgery and use of forgeries”, prosecutors said.
“The offences were allegedly committed by a criminal organisation.”
According to an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media, lobbyists working for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei are suspected of bribing current or former MEPs to promote the company’s commercial policy in Europe.
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A European Parliament spokesperson said only that the assembly “takes note of the information. When requested, it always co-operates fully with the judicial authorities”.
The federal prosecutor’s office, which did not name Huawei, said that corruption was believed to have been practised “regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, and taking various forms, such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches”.
Prosecutors believe that payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties.
“From this point of view, the investigation also aims to detect any evidence of money laundering,” they said.
Police seized several documents and objects during the searches.
This is the second corruption case targeting the EU Parliament in less than three years. In December 2022, the legislature was left reeling after a corruption scandal in which Qatari officials were accused of bribing EU officials to play down labour rights concerns ahead of the soccer World Cup.
The scandal scarred the reputation of the EU’s only institution comprised of officials elected directly in the 27 member countries. It undermined the assembly’s claim to the moral high-ground in its own investigations, such as into allegations of corruption in member country Hungary.
The impact of the scandal is still being felt, with the parliament due to rule soon on whether to lift the immunity of two more politicians who were implicated.
