
Qatar Scandal Closes In on EU Transport Official
Instead of a third party, Hololei himself was the only official to sign off on accepting junkets to Qatar—while he negotiated a controversial aviation deal with the Qatari government.
Instead of a third party, Hololei himself was the only official to sign off on accepting junkets to Qatar—while he negotiated a controversial aviation deal with the Qatari government.
Freedom of information requests reveal that senior EU transport official Henrik Hololei enjoyed trips to Qatar while he and his office were negotiating a controversial open skies agreement with the Gulf state.
Leftists MEPs are more likely to have neglected the rules before, finds Transparency International’s new report.
Maria Arena and Alessandra Moretti have been added to the list of suspects in Qatargate. Both MEPs previously accepted junkets to Qatar.
As vice president of the delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Tarabella took a favorable view of Qatar, in spite of its poor human and workers’ rights record.
The spokesman for the Moroccan House of Representatives Rachid Talbi Alami said in a statement that the Moroccan Parliament had decided to “reconsider” its relationship with the European Parliament.
The European Parliament is not convinced by the Commission’s reasoning and wants further scrutiny of the agreement.
The Maltese politician took over the presidency of parliament in January 2022, but the gifts only came to light when she declared them in mid-January a year later, following the Qatargate scandal.
The Qatargate scandal is set to expand to Morocco and elsewhere, as an alleged ex-MEP ringleader makes a plea deal with Belgian authorities.
Kaili’s defense team maintains that their client is innocent and was never bribed, as she “did not know about the existence” of the €150,000 in cash found in her Brussels apartment.