VP Eva Kaili replaced with Marc Angel of Luxembourg in EU Parliament

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Jan 15:45

Angel is a member of Luxembourg's Socialist Workers' party and a former member of parliament in his homeland of Luxembourg who became a European deputy in 2019.

Luxembourg politician Marc Angel in Strasbourg (Observador)

Greek MEP Eva Kaili has been replaced as VP of the European Parliament on Wednesday with politician Marc Angel following her arrest over the alleged bribery scandal involving Qatar.

Angel is a member of Luxembourg's Socialist Workers' party and a former member of parliament in his homeland of Luxembourg who became a European deputy in 2019.

Kaili was arrested in Belgium in December as one of four suspects involved in a probe into the alleged kickbacks from Qatar and Morocco, which uncovered 1.5 million euros in cash. She has been since then stripped of her position as the European Parliament's 14th vice president, but has been allowed to keep the position of MEP.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Twitter last month that the parliament "stands firmly against corruption," adding they would do everything they could to "assist the course of justice."

Our @Europarl_EN stands firmly against corruption.

At this stage, we cannot comment on any ongoing investigations except to confirm that we have & will cooperate fully with all relevant law enforcement & judicial authorities.

We'll do all we can to assist the course of justice.
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) December 10, 2022

Ex-MEP to reveal secret information for lighter sentence

The allegations and captures have led to calls against anti-corruption in parliament, leading to threats to credibility. With that, Qatar denied being a part of the briberies and Morocco pointed fingers at the media for generating baseless and unjustified "attacks".

On Tuesday, Kaili's co-accused, ex-MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, shockingly admitted guilt and in return for a lighter prison sentence, agreed to share details and information with authorities.

Panzeri agreed to share information regarding how the scheme took place and agreed to not exclude countries that paid bribes and people he paid off. Belgian authorities have their sights set on two other European Parliament members and have asked for their immunity to be lifted.

Investigators have for several months "suspected a Gulf country of influencing the economic and political decisions of the European Parliament, and this by transferring consequential sums of money or giving sizeable gifts to third parties with a significant and/or strategic position within the European Parliament," the prosecutor's office said.