On December 1, the European Parliament’s (EP) Civil Rights, Justice and Home Affairs Committee voted to liberalize visas for citizens of the Persian Gulf country before the scandal, now known as ‘Qatargate’, was publicly exposed.
Spanish news agency EFE cited sources in the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) parliamentary group – to which the Greek MEP belongs – as saying Eva Kaili had been fired as EP’s vice-president. The proposal, which voted in favor of visa liberalization for Qatari nationals, was not part of that parliamentary committee.
At the time, Kylie was “not a member of that parliamentary group or a substitute,” but a document on the outcome of the vote, which can be consulted on the EP’s website, states that the Greek politician “voted in favor of visa liberalization.” ”, pointed to the same sources.
The sources also said that Cayley appeared in the parliamentary committee on the day of the vote on visa liberalization on December 1 “without prior notice” and “without appearing on the list of representatives”.
Unidentified sources cited by EFE acknowledged that this was a “very unusual and irregular” behavior.
“Also, he took a seat at the back of the room and did not sit where the S&D representatives were,” the sources pointed out.
Sources said a notice will be sent to the leadership of the political group the day after polling and disciplinary action will be initiated.
To EFE, the Spanish vice-president Iratxe García Pérez, head of the S&D group, noted that he had already scheduled a meeting with Kylie to discuss this “irregular behavior” and that the bench should refer to the report on visa liberalization. Back to committee rather than going to a full vote.
Italian Francesco Giorgi, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, and a lobbyist and director of a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) have also been detained within the ‘Qatargate’ framework, along with Eva Kaili, a Greek deputy and adviser’s partner. ‘. No Peace No Justice, Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, also Italian.
All of them have been accused in the scope of the investigation of participating in a criminal organization, money laundering and corruption, to protect the interests of Qatar in European institutions (the host of the 2022 edition of the Football World Cup), which has already denied involvement in corruption attempts.
On Thursday, the EP approved a resolution suspending all legal documents related to Qatar and proposing to prevent representatives of this country’s interests from entering the institution’s buildings.
Waiver of visas for Qatari nationals is one of the documents suspended under the resolution, as well as all visits to the country by MEPs.
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