“Looking at this affair only through the prism of money is a mistake. This is a spy affair. The Russian thread will sooner or later appear in this case,” Dominik Tarczynski, a Law and Justice MEP, said on Telewizja Republika. What is more, he revealed that there is a talk behind closed doors that MEPs from Poland may also be involved in the affair.
Corruption-spy scandal
The scandal erupted in December with the arrest of former EP vice-president, Greek socialist Eva Kaili, who is suspected of taking huge bribes from Qatar. Kaili is not the only negative protagonist in the EP corruption-spy scandal. Her family and relatives are also implicated.
Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former Italian MEP, is also in custody. He is the founder of the NGO Fight Impunity, which created reports based on which resolutions against Poland were voted in the European Parliament. He has been charged in connection with the Panzeri affair. The former MEP would have faced 15 years in prison if convicted. However, he decided to strike a deal with the court.
In contrast, it came to light yesterday (Jan 19) that the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, declared 142 gifts she had received on the public register for MEPs. However, she missed the deadline for MEPs to declare their gifts, in respect of 125 items on her list. The latest reports of the affair were commented on by Dominik Tarczynski, a Law and Justice MEP, on Telewizja Republika.
“Let’s imagine that a Law and Justice MP gets gifts, s/he doesn’t declare them and they are gifts of great value. It’s not that they got them. The EP allows such gifts. It is inappropriate, but it allows it. They have not been declared and that is the problem. I wonder how this will be explained. It is very important not to call this affair just a corruption one,”
the politician said.
He assessed that it is a “spy affair”
“This is an affair in which the secret services were involved. The services organised this scandal. I would not just take into account that it was only the Moroccan services. Given that Russia spent $300 million on lobbying to convince some people about the gas pipelines, I think the settlement signed by former MP Panzeri with the prosecution will bring a lot to the case,”
he added.
He recalled that the settlement signed by Panzeri states that he is to “hand over all the names of those involved and a list of the countries that were involved.”
“The Belgian prosecution takes into account that it was not only Qatar or Morocco. The Russian thread will come up sooner or later in this case,”
he elaborated.
“All the reports that showed the involvement of Russian lobbyists said that there were 11 Russian lobbyists for every MEP and that’s talking about the registered ones. And this lobbying was carried out by two Panzeri organisations – Fight Impunity and No Peace Without Justice. These were organisations that conducted illegal lobbying. These organisations were the authors of reports on which Poland was attacked. Debates were organised on the basis of these reports, and on the basis of these debates’ resolutions were passed against Poland,”
Tarczynski recalled.
“Putin has been preparing for this war for a very long time. It was known that Poland was a country bordering Ukraine. It was known that Poland would be a hub because of its geographical location. It was obvious that Poland had to be weakened and everything had to be done to keep Poland out of the money. I believe that the withholding of the KPO (national recovery plan fund – ed.) and all these resolutions prepared on the basis of the reports of these bribe-takers were aimed at making Poland have no money and not be able to transfer military equipment in the right amount. This has not succeeded for Putin. In my opinion, looking at this affair only through the prism of money is a mistake. This is a spy affair,”
the Law and Justice MEP stressed.
“This is the biggest corruption-spy scandal, and it cannot be swept under the rug. This affair is too serious. It is a matter of time until more names are revealed. The settlement that Panzeri signed says that he has to give the names, the names of countries and organisations,”
Tarczynski said.
The presenter also asked whether Polish MEPs might also be involved in the affair.
“If you are asking me about what is being said behind closed doors, I can confirm, I have such knowledge. It is said that there are Polish MEPs,”
he replied.