“The European Parliament and President Metsola stand firmly against corruption,are actively and fully cooperating with law enforcement and judicial authorities to assist the course of justice,” her spokesman said. He declined to provide further details.
The EU assembly begins its last plenary session of the year in Strasbourg,France,on Monday.
Metsola relieved Eva Kaili,a 44-year-old Greek former TV news anchor,of her duties late Saturday,“in the light of the ongoing judicial investigations by Belgian authorities”.
Kaili also was suspended by her party in Greece and the EU assembly’s Socialists and Democrats group on Friday after the raids,in which police also seized around €600,000 ($932,000) in cash,computer equipment and mobile phones.
Kaili’s party in Greece,the Socialist Pasok-Movement for Change,publicly distanced itself from remarks she made in the European parliament last month praising Qatar,which is currently hosting the FIFA World Cup.
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She said the Cup was “proof,actually,of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of a country with reforms that inspired the Arab world.” Kaili also repeated what she said was an International Labour Organisation view that “Qatar is a front runner in labour rights.”
Qatar has come under heavy international pressure to introduce labour reforms as it sought to build new World Cup stadiums in record time,often using migrant workers who toiled for long hours under harsh conditions.
In Italy on Saturday,Article One,a small centre-left party,suspended former EU lawmaker Pier-Antonio Panzeri following reports he was caught up in the scandal. His wife and daughter have been taken into custody on a European arrest warrant.
They spent several hours in detention before a court in Brescia ordered them transferred to house arrest pending a definitive decision on whether they will be handed over to Belgian authorities,one of their lawyers,Angelo Giovanni de Riso,said.
He identified his clients as Panzeri’s wife,Maria Dolores Colleoni,and daughter,Silvia Panzeri.
In a telephone interview,de Riso said the full documentation from Brussels hadn’t yet arrived,so he didn’t know the exact charges they faced. But he said he believed it was related to allegations of corruption and money laundering. He said they were innocent.
The International Trade Union Confederation declined to comment when asked about reports that its general secretary,Luca Visentini,was also caught up in the affair. A message on the organisation’s website on Sunday said that “ITUC has no further comment on this issue at present,pending further information”.
AP