World
Corruption scandal: MEPs vote to suspend Qatar access to EU Parliament
Members of the European Parliament voted on Thursday to droop entry to the hemicycle’s premises to Qatari representatives because the Gulf nation is suspected of getting supplied “massive sums of cash” and “substantial items” to MEPs and assistants in a bid to affect European decision-making.
Lawmakers additionally determined to halt all pending laws involving Qatar.
The investigation by Belgian police into undue affect by a Persian Gulf state extensively believed to be Qatar has despatched shockwaves by way of Brussels and thrown into query the parliament’s transparency and lobbying guidelines.
Greek MEP Eva Kaili, along with three different suspects, has been charged with participation in a prison organisation, corruption and cash laundering. The 4 stay in custody.
Kaili has already been ousted from her function as European Parliament Vice President and from her membership within the socialist group, often known as S&D.
Police have performed greater than 20 searches since Friday, seized over €1.5 million in money and frozen IT sources from Parliament workers to stop the disappearance of key knowledge.
Within the decision handed on Thursday with 541 votes in favour and simply two towards, MEPs described themselves as “appalled” by the revelations and underlined the “gravity and magnitude” of the case.
The Parliament “denounces, within the strongest phrases, Qatar’s alleged makes an attempt to affect Members, former Members and employees of the European Parliament by way of acts of corruption, which represent severe overseas interference within the EU’s democratic processes,” the draft textual content reads.
“Inappropriate technique of influencing, bribery and different prison offences are unacceptable.”
MEPs requested for a suspension of the entry badges issued to “representatives of Qatari pursuits,” which could transcend Qatari nationals, till the investigation additional clarifies the information.
All of the EU establishments require identification badges to be entered.
Furthermore, lawmakers determined to placed on maintain “all work on legislative information regarding Qatar,” significantly the EU-Qatar aviation settlement, which is but to be absolutely ratified, and the controversial visa liberalisation for Qatari and Kuwaiti residents.
The visa waiver had been accepted earlier this month by the parliament’s civil liberties committee with 42 votes in favour, together with Kaili’s, and 16 towards, and was anticipated to be despatched to the total plenary.
It is unclear when discussions across the file will resume.
MEPs can even cancel all “deliberate visits” to the Gulf nation, which is at present internet hosting the FIFA World Cup, and requested an EU-wide ban on political donations made by international locations exterior the bloc.
“Belief in Parliament’s integrity and the rule of legislation is paramount for the functioning of European democracy,” lawmakers stated within the movement, sponsored by six political events.
“It’s key to make sure that democratic processes aren’t captured by personal and exterior pursuits.”
Along with this, the decision requires an in-house investigation, a particular committee on transparency and integrity, and a “devoted” vice-president accountable for preventing corruption and overseas interference.
MEPs additionally name for stronger guidelines to guard whistle-blowers, monitor so-called friendship teams and regulate “aspect jobs,” in addition to making the EU Transparency Register necessary.
Comparable proposals had been unveiled earlier on Thursday by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who promised to launch a “wide-ranging” reform course of to crack down on corruption and illicit lobbying.
For the reason that graft scandal erupted over the weekend, the Qatari authorities has taken a agency stance and distanced itself from Kaili and the opposite suspects.
“The State of Qatar categorically rejects any makes an attempt to affiliate it with accusations of misconduct. Any affiliation of the Qatari authorities with the reported claims is baseless and gravely misinformed,” the Qatari Mission to the European Union said in a statement.
“The State of Qatar works by way of institution-to-institution engagement and operates in full compliance with worldwide legal guidelines and rules.”
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World
Climate activists glue themselves to Munich airport runway, pausing traffic
A group of climate protesters have been arrested in Germany after breaking into an airport and gluing themselves to the runway.
Six activists broke through security fencing at Munich airport in the German state of Bavaria on Saturday, according to the news outlet dpa.
Approximately sixty flights were canceled after the half-dozen protesters glued themselves to the tarmac, forcing officials to temporarily close the airport.
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR BLOCKING AIRSTRIP IN MASSACHUSETTS
An additional fourteen flights into Munich were forced to divert to other nearby airports to avoid the disruption.
Climate protest coalition Last Generation took credit for the stunt, claiming it was intended to draw attention to the German government’s inaction on the airline industry’s environmental impact.
CLIMATE GROUP TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR US OPEN CHAOS, OFFERS WARNING: ‘NO TENNIS ON A DEAD PLANET’
All six protesters were arrested and charged by law enforcement.
“Trespassing in the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,” German Airports Association General Manager Ralph Beisel told dpa.
“Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote about the protests on social media platform X.
The Munich incident was just one of many similar protests around the world against air transportation. Last Generation has performed at least two similar airport disruptions in Germany since last year.
World
Russian court seizes two European banks’ assets amid Western sanctions
Freezing hundreds of billions of dollars in lenders’ assets was part of dispute over gas project halted by sanctions.
A Russian court has ordered the seizure of the assets, accounts, property and shares of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in the country as part of a lawsuit involving the German banks, court documents showed.
The banks are among the guarantor lenders under a contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Russia with the German company Linde. The project was terminated due to Western sanctions.
European banks have largely exited Russia after Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine in 2022.
A court in St Petersburg ruled in favour of seizing 239 million euros ($260m) from Deutsche Bank, documents dated May 16 showed.
Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt said it had already provisioned about 260 million euros ($283m) for the case.
“We will need to see how this claim is implemented by the Russian courts and assess the immediate operational impact in Russia,” the bank added in a statement.
The court also seized the assets of Commerzbank, another German financial institution, worth 93.7 million euros ($101.85m) as well as securities and the bank’s building in central Moscow.
The bank is yet to comment on the case.
In a parallel lawsuit on Friday, the Russian court also ordered UniCredit’s assets, accounts and property, as well as shares in two subsidiaries, to be seized. The ruling covered 462.7 million euros ($503m) in assets.
UniCredit said it “has been made aware” of the decision and was “reviewing” the situation in detail. The bank was one of the most exposed European banks when Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, with a large local subsidiary operating in Russia.
It began preliminary discussions on a sale last year, but the talks have not advanced. Chief executive Andrea Orcel said UniCredit wants to leave Russia, but added that gifting an operation worth three billion euros ($3.3bn) was not a good way to respect the spirit of Western sanctions on Moscow over the conflict.
Russia has faced heavy Western sanctions, including on its banking sector, since the start of the war in Ukraine. Dozens of US and European companies have also stopped doing business in the country.
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