“I had no suspicions, but I understood that something different was happening when the vote for Qatar took place,” noted the president of the European Parliament.
Interview of Roberta Metzola
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, referred to the effects of the “Qatargate” corruption scandal.
“I consider it important to introduce a system based on which MEPs, after the end of their term, cannot immediately start lobbying”. There must be a negotiation, starting with the duration of this ban”, emphasized the president of the European Parliament.
“I want to make sure that there are enforceable and swift sanctions because sanctions are the real deterrent,” he added. He also explained that the already existing sanctions foresee the possibility of stopping the payment of the salary, while now “two Eurogroups have asked for a further step to be taken, with the freezing of the pension”. Their proposal provides, as explained by Metsola, that “whoever is sentenced to a sentence of more than two years will lose his pension”. But it should be “verified whether, from a legal point of view, the proposal is applicable”.
“What surprised me the most is not that a third country tried to exert influence, but that an NGO – a so-called human rights NGO – was used by an authoritarian regime to corrupt,” the head told La Repubblica of the European Parliament.
When asked by the newspaper if she had any suspicions, Roberta Metsola replied: “No suspicions. But I understood that something different was happening when the vote was taken in this committee. The inquiries probably reached Qatar, with the initial thought that Russia and China could be pulling the strings. We are always worried about this kind of phenomenon, but the point is that in this case they succeeded.”
The president of the European Parliament considers that “with this limited knowledge, we could have wondered what was happening in the parliamentary committee on human rights and probably trusted it less”.
In relation to the process of lifting the immunity of Roberto Coccolino and Mark Tarabella, he explained that “the whole process usually lasts ninety days, but it was decided to shorten it by thirty days”. “I am not afraid of any extension of the investigation, but I am realistic. I’m ready for anything, but I’m not expecting anything. We cannot be “innocent” and believe that it will never happen again, in the future”, concluded the president of the European Parliament.
This article is originally published on newmoney.gr
