A European arrest warrant was issued against a former European Commissioner late on Monday, June 22nd.
The Belgian investigating judge named Greek politician Dimitris Avramopoulos as a ‘Qatargate’ suspect, with officials from Belgium and Greece confirming the charges. Avramopoulos was the European Commissioner for Migration until 2019 and later a member of Fight Impunity, an NGO linked to Qatargate.
Avramopoulos—who sits in the Greek Parliament for the ruling New Democracy party—said he will not use parliamentary immunity and has denied any wrongdoing:
There was no direct or indirect involvement of mine in anything reprehensible.
On the contrary, I will appeal to the Greek judiciary myself, requesting that the matter be fully investigated and a decision be made.
News of the emerging Qatargate scandal first broke in 2022, when multiple European Union officials were alleged to have accepted bribes from the State of Qatar to influence Brussels policymaking in favour of the LNG-rich emirate. Qatar also denies any wrongdoing.
