The European Parliament (EP) announced on Friday that it has banned representatives of the Chinese technology concern Huawei access to its premises. This decision was made the day after the Belgian police detained several people in connection with the investigation of suspicion of corruption in favor of the company. According to AFP reports and Politico, TASR reports this.
Police raid
The police carried out a raid in two dozen cities in Brussels, Walloon and Flanders, but also in Portugal, in connection with the alleged participation in “active corruption in the EP, as well as counterfeiting and use of counterfeits” before investigating corruption and laundry of dirty money, before ” the authorities.
“Parliament has decided to suspend the approach of representatives of Huawei to Parliament as a preventive measure,” the EP spokesman said.
The European Commission spokesman for Transparency OLOF Gill said that all Cabinet of Commissioners and all General Directorates “will be instructed to immediately suspend contacts and meetings with Huawei until the next announcement”.
According to the EU transparency register, nine Huawei representatives are accredited for the Europarlament in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Katargate
Less than two years after the corruption scandal known as Katargate, which shook the European Parliament, forced Brussels to accelerate the reforms aimed at limiting external influence. According to investigators, some Arab states bribed MPs and other representatives of this institution to promote their interests.
Activists for transparency who, after the scandal in 2022, accused the European Parliament of defending reforms, called on him to instantly investigate the latest claims.
According to AFP, Huawei refused to comment on the ban on the EP. He had previously stated that he took the accusation of corruption seriously and has zero tolerance against corruption. At the same time, he promised immediately communication with Belgian investigators.
The Politico portal informed in 2023 that the Belgian secret service is testing Huawei’s work there. It listened to the allegedly former employees of a Chinese company about lobbying in the EU institution’s environment. According to Politic, the Belgian secret service was interested in the possible use of non -state actors, such as Lobbyists Huawei in Brussels, to pursue the state’s state interests in Europe.
