Corruption scandal in the EU Parliament: arrest after lobby allegations!

Corruption scandal in the EU Parliament: arrest after lobby allegations!

Brüssel, Belgien - A huge corruption scandal shakes the European Parliament! Comprehensive raids took place in Brussels and Portugal on Thursday, in which the police carried out a total of 21 house searches. Several suspects were temporarily arrested; An investigation into bribery and presumed money washing, as the Krone . According to the reports, the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei is suspected of being behind the attempted influences that have been under the guise of lobbying since 2021.

According to the investigation, the accused could be both deputies and other parliamentary employees. The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Belgium announced that under the pretext of Lobbying, false remuneration for political statements and inappropriate gifts such as invitations were paid for football games and visits to the restaurant. There is also a suspicion of the bribery of middlemen for the financing of conferences. This allows confidence in the integrity of parliament, which also contributes to distrust of Chinese technology in the western mobile phone market, as critics fear the Chinese government's possible influence, such as the SPIEGEL

The confiscated documents and objects now have to be analyzed, which could further pull the investigation. The spokeswoman for the EU Parliament stated that they work with the authorities without restrictions in order to clarify the allegations quickly and comprehensively. The parliament itself has been spared direct searches so far, but the developments are certainly an alarming signal for the entire institutional credibility of the EU.