Italy is following the developments in the Brussels corruption case with great interest, also because of the similarity with earlier cases in its domestic news.
- Politico on Kaili: The European Parliament loses the "queen of cryptocurrencies"
- How Belgium's NSA unraveled Qatargate. Investigations from 2021
According to Italian newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Francesco Giorgio, a companion of Eva Kaili and former associate of Italian former MEP Antonio Panceri, reportedly cooperated with Belgian justice and, in a lengthy interrogation, confirmed much of the prosecutors' conclusions.
More specifically, according to the Corriere della Sera, the 35-year-old Italian appears to have referred in detail to the activity of the non-governmental organization Fight Impunity, which Panceri had set up and, according to the Corriere, "money may have passed through this NGO that may have ended up with Kaili or other persons".
"Fight Impunity was the route chosen for money transactions," adds the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. There is a feeling, however, as the Rome daily points out, that Francesco Giorgio is trying[/B], as far as possible, to defend the former vice-president of the European Parliament.
Concerns about lobbying in Italy
Last night Italian financial police seized 20,000 euros from an apartment of Eva Kaili's partner outside Milan. On Monday, a similar raid had taken place at a Panceri family residence outside the Italian capital, with the seizure of 17,000 euros, documents and computers. It is clear, of course, that at this stage the role of the Italian judicial and police authorities is auxiliary. Panceri, commentators point out, was considered politically close to the Italian centre-left former Prime Minister, Massimo D'Alma.
At the political level in Italy, a wide-ranging debate and reflection has begun on the relationship between European states and the whole system of lobbying and pressure from third countries. The main question is whether, after this whole affair, there are really going to be substantial, more binding and strict rules.
- QatarGate: 22 December decision on Kaili. Until then she remains in prison
- Qatargate: "River" revelations Georgie: "We need NGOs to move money."
What they were planning
In the documents, there is allegedly a reference to Qatari Labour Minister Ali bin Samik al Marri whom Eva Kaili met on 1 November.
Belgian authorities suspect that the aim of the "group of four" arrested last Friday was to develop links between MEPs and the Qatari authorities to exert positive influence on crucial issues such as labour relations.
"For this reason, the Panchery NGO has organised a series of trips to Qatar in recent months. His daughter was there for a few days. The documents mention names of aides who could have been influenced by Panchery, such as, for example, Alessandra Moretti from the Democratic Party, since her aide, Francesca Garbanati, had previously worked with Panchery," Repubblica notes.
Qatar approached several MEPs . "I was also approached by officials from the Qatari embassy," says, among others, Dino Giaruso, former MEP of the 5 Star Movement. "I was struck by the melodious and ambiguous manner, the allusions to the Friends of Qatar associations and the trips that will be organised before and during the World Cup. The case smelled bad and I refused."
The "juice" of the case
According to Repubblica, the "juice" of the story lies in the bank accounts of Fight Impunity. And such accounts exist in Belgium, of course, but also in Qatar and Morocco.
Where does Morocco fit in? In the fact that Panchery recognized advances in the field of human rights, as he did with Qatar. These acknowledgements of the "great steps forward" that these Arab countries had supposedly made came at a difficult time for Panchery's NGO.
Although he had denounced the policies of governments in various countries, from Egypt to Iran, he did not get the €175,000 loan he had requested from the European Parliament. It was initially approved, but then the deal got stuck somewhere. And, as we know, money, apart from being an inalienable human right for everyone, is also the fuel for the engine of the defence of all human rights everywhere on Earth...
Fighy Impunity was Panchery's whole life after his retirement from the European Parliament.
Sources dw.com / MegaTv /in.gr
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