Greek former EU migration chief accused in Qatargate scandal
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Dimitris Avramopoulos, who served as European commissioner for migration from 2014 to 2019, has denied any wrongdoing.
PHOTO: REUTERS
ATHENS – The Greek authorities on June 23 examined an arrest warrant for the EU’s former top migration official, issued by Belgian prosecutors investigating the so-called “Qatargate” cash-for-influence scandal.
Dimitris Avramopoulos, who served as European commissioner for migration from 2014 to 2019 and is now an MP in Greece, has denied any wrongdoing.
The Qatargate scandal saw a number of EU lawmakers accused in 2022 of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco.
The Greek Parliament must decide whether to lift the immunity Avramopoulos, 73, enjoys as a lawmaker for the ruling conservative New Democracy party, a parliamentary source said.
Avramopoulos said on June 22 that he “has not been involved, either directly or indirectly, in any wrongful activity”.
Contacted by AFP, the Belgian prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the case.
According to the Greek ANA news agency, the Belgian investigation concerns Avramopoulos’s alleged work with the non-governmental organisation Fight Impunity organisation, founded by former MEP Antonio Panzeri, a central figure in Qatargate.
“My involvement with the organisation Fight Impunity, alongside leading international figures, was entirely legal, audited, approved, declared and mandated,” Avramopoulos said.
He added that he had declared all his income, including the fees received from the NGO, to the tax authorities.
According to several media reports, Avramopoulos may have received up to €73,000 (S$108,000) for his services to the NGO.
The Qatargate scandal broke in December 2022 with the arrest in Brussels of half a dozen suspects and the seizure of huge sums of cash, found notably at the homes of former Italian MEP Panzeri and the Greek vice-president of the European Parliament, Eva Kaili, who was forced to resign.
Qatar and Morocco are suspected of having orchestrated corruption within the European Parliament in order to burnish their image on human rights.
They have always firmly denied this. The investigation, conducted in Belgium, has been significantly delayed due to challenges by various lawyers regarding the legality of the proceedings. AFP
