Two more Socialist MEPs have reportedly been linked by Belgian investigators to a corruption scandal currently ravaging the EU, a report has claimed.
Marc Tarabella and Andrea Cozzolino, two Socialist MEPs working within the European Parliament have reportedly been linked to an ongoing EU corruption scandal by Belgian investigators, a report on Tuesday has claimed.
It comes after one senior Socialist representative, Eva Kaili, was arrested late last year and remanded in custody over an ongoing investigation into bribery within the parliament.
According to an article by POLITICO, investigators in Belgium suspect both Tarabella and Cozzolino of wrongdoing in relation to the scandal, which reportedly involves officials from Morocco and Qatar allegedly bribing certain members of the EU body.
The parliament is now reportedly moving to lift the immunity of both MEPs following a request from authorities to do so, with the process for removing their legal protection said to begin later this month.
Such a move will apparently be backed by both of the MEPs in question, with the lawyer for Marc Tarabella reportedly saying that the representative will support the motion to lift his legal immunity.
“Since the beginning of this investigation, Marc Tarabella has repeated that he is at the disposal of the judiciary and has even asked to be questioned rapidly in order to defend himself,” Tarabella’s lawyer reportedly stated. “He has equally said that he would not hide behind his parliamentary immunity.”
While both MEPs appear to be maintaining their innocence in relation to the scandal, the fact that they have been linked to the probe in the first place will likely result in political headaches for leftists within the EU.
So far, the corruption scandal plaguing the EU has been overwhelmingly left-wing, affecting a number of officials with links to Socialist parties across Europe.
By far the biggest fish caught up in the probe as of writing is Eva Kaili, a former Vice President of the European Parliament who had the position stripped from her after being linked to the investigation.
Despite efforts pushing for her conditional release, Kaili has been kept behind bars by authorities in Belgium ahead of her trial in relation to the corruption probe.
Like the other MEPs involved, Kaili has continued to profess her innocence as of writing.
Since her arrest, however, many who have frequently been targetted by the bloc over their political views have lashed out at the institution, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even calling for the parliament to be abolished in the wake of the bribery probe.
“If we want to bring the European Parliament under stronger control as an institution, then it would be better if we sent representatives elected to the national parliament instead of direct election,” Orbán reportedly said.
“Hungarians want to abolish the European Parliament,” he also claimed.