Socialist MEPs step down from key roles as European Parliament corruption scandal widens
The socialist group in the European Parliament has asked several of its members to step down from key posts and legislative files as the graft scandal involving one of its most well-known colleagues, Eva Kaili, continues to widen and send shockwaves through Brussels.
The Socialists & Democrats (S&D), the second largest formation in the hemicycle, has come under intense scrutiny after Kaili was arrested on suspicion of illicit lobbying in favour of a Persian Gulf state, believed to be Qatar, the controversial host of the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup.
The move follows a new update by the Belgian federal prosecutor, who in a press release said the IT resources of ten parliamentary had been "frozen" to prevent the disappearance of data. A total of 20 searches have been carried out since Friday, with more than €750,000 seized.
Four people, including Kaili, remain in custody and will appear before a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.
"My group and myself are shocked by this corruption case," S&D President Iratxe García Pérez told reporters on Tuesday morning. "I want to make it clear that our commitment to transparency is, has been and will always be absolute."
García expressed her "disappointment" and said her main concern was to protect the Parliament's credibility, which, she said, must not be "tarnished" by the revelations.
"We have decided that the MEPs who are being investigated or those whose assistants are being investigated by law enforcement relinquish any position of responsibility that they exercise in the Parliament and in the S&D group as long proceedings are ongoing," García said.
On top of Kaili, whose membership was suspended over the weekend, an additional four MEPs have taken a step back while the investigation is
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