Eva Kaili under investigation for corruption Qatar World Cup
2022.12.13 09:36
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Eva Kaili under investigation for corruption Qatar World Cup
Budrigannews.com – From student activism in Greece to the highest levels of European legislative power, Eva Kaili’s career soared, but her arrest in a corruption investigation involving World Cup host Qatar now threatens to do the same.
The 44-year-old, who rose through the ranks to become one of 14 vice presidents in the European Parliament, was one of four people arrested and charged on Sunday in Belgium over claims that Qatar lavished them with cash and gifts to sway decisions.
Kaili denies any wrongdoing and defended the host of the World Cup in the European assembly last month against those attempting to “bully” Doha over its treatment of migrant workers.
The allegations are also denied by Qatar.
However, European lawmakers removed Kaili from her position as vice president on Tuesday, shaken by the scandal. While the Greek socialist PASOK party she represents is expelling her, some colleagues also suggested that she should resign as an MEP.
Kaili was one of a group of young Greek politicians who emerged during the crippling Greek debt crisis from 2010 to 2015. He was an architect by training and a former newsreader for television.
Even though Greece received three bailouts from other countries, Athens frequently clashed with other capitals of the European Union. This changed Greek politics and created an environment where Kaili and others who were ready to challenge seasoned politicians thrived.
A former PASOK official who has known Kaili and her family since she was a student in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki said, “She always had ambition.”
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The official said of her European Parliament vice president position, which she obtained after being elected to the EU parliament in 2014, “The position of VP suited her like a glove.”
She defended Qatar, which has been the target of intense criticism from human rights groups for its treatment of migrant workers during the World Cup’s preparations, in a parliamentary session on Nov. 21.
Qatar had been “introducing labor rights… and introducing minimum wage despite the challenges,” according to Kaili, who visited Kuwait and Qatar at the end of October and the beginning of November.
She added: ” They focused on a dream by decision, they opened to the world. In any case, some here are calling to segregate them. They intimidate them and accuse anyone who speaks or participates of corruption.
A resolution requesting FIFA to assist in the payment of compensation to the families of deceased migrant workers and workers who had their rights violated was approved by the European Parliament three days later.
Kaili was an activist for university students and became a municipal councillor in Thessaloniki at the age of 24.
Before being elected to parliament in 2007, she worked as a television newsreader for the Greek channel MEGA TV for three years. She was the youngest PASOK legislator elected to the Greek assembly at the age of 29.
During the financial crisis, she questioned Prime Minister George Papandreou’s handling of the debt crisis in the Greek parliament and threatened to withhold crucial parliamentary support at one point.
Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, Kaili’s Greek attorney, stated to Open TV in response to the charges she is currently facing in Belgium: I can assure you that her position is that she is innocent.
He continued, “She has nothing, explicitly and unequivocally, to do with financing from Qatar.”
