Despite corruption allegations, Scholz wants to buy gas from Qatar

Qatar is said to have bribed four MEPs. For Chancellor Olaf Scholz, this is no reason to reconsider gas supplies from Qatar.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees no reason to reconsider gas supplies from Qatar because of corruption allegations. Scholz, in Brussels on Wednesday after an EU-ASEAN summit on corruption allegations in the European Parliament, said it is about clarifying the charges against those who can and have been bribed. Asked about gas supply, he insisted, “It is an issue in itself. And it has to be clarified for itself.” Qatar is suspected of being behind the bribery attempts, but strongly denies it.

At the summit, Scholz represented French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Qatar for the semi-finals of the World Cup. There France played against Morocco in the evening.

Belgian prosecutors suspect Greek MEP Eva Kelli and three other MEPs of accepting bribes from Qatar to influence EU policies. A spokesman for the Belgian Ministry of Justice said, “We … have been too naive for too long,” referring to covert operations by foreign powers in Belgium.

The spokesman described the investigation as “an important case on which the (Belgian) State Security has been working for more than a year to catalog suspicions of corruption of parliamentarians by various countries in collaboration with foreign intelligence services”. “.

Belgian police released an image of €1.5 million in cash seized in raids from Friday to Monday, including a suitcase filled with €50 and €100 notes and two briefcases with €50 notes neatly stacked. Searches were also conducted in Italy.