Confessions by Georgio and Panzeri confirm Morocco as a source of cash confiscated by the Police. Morocco is increasingly becoming the centre of attention in the EU corruption scandal. So far, Qatar, in particular, has been in the pillory, which is said to have bought the goodwill of MPs to improve its image before the football World Cup.
But Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne had already declared in Parliament before Christmas that a second state was involved, which involved fishing rights, among other things – making it clear that it was Morocco that had a beneficial agreement with the EU in 2019 could close.
The arrest warrant for the wife and daughter of the former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, the main suspect in the corruption scandal, also refers to Morocco: Citing the investigations by the Belgian state security service, the allegation is made there that Panzeri had political activities “for a fee”. Influenced MEPs ‘to the benefit of Morocco and Qatar’. This is reported by the Belgian daily newspapers “Le Soir” and “Knack”. A total of 1.5 million euros in cash were found during house searches of the accused.
The European left had a hard nut to crack on Qatar
The co-chair of the left in the EU Parliament, Manon Aubry, fears that “Qatargate” is only the “tip of the iceberg”. Morocco had particularly close ties to the same corrupt networks using similar methods, the 34-year-old said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel.
The Moroccan contact of Panzeri’s network is said to be the diplomat Abderrahim Atmoun, who is now working in Poland – but Panzeri’s contacts are said to have extended to the head of the Moroccan foreign intelligence chief DGED.
According to intercepted Moroccan communications, as early as 2013, when Panzeri was still an MEP and head of the Maghreb parliamentary delegation, all plans to influence the parliament were to be coordinated with this “friend of Morocco”. This would mean that political influence and, later, possibly bribery by Morocco would go back much further than previously known.
