By Selen Valente
BRUSSELS (AA) - Belgian authorities have urged the European Parliament to lift the immunity of five lawmakers as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged bribery, money laundering, and fraud linked to lobbying for Chinese tech giant Huawei.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola named the five MEPs during a plenary session on Wednesday.
The lawmakers are Fulvio Martusciello, head of the Italian delegation of the center-right European People’s Party; fellow Italian People’s Party members Giusi Princi and Salvatore De Meo; Maltese MEP Daniel Attard of the Socialists and Democrats group; and Bulgarian MEP Nikola Minchev from the Renew Europe group.
According to Belgian authorities, the five are suspected of accepting gifts and other benefits in exchange for promoting Huawei’s interests within the European Parliament.
So far, eight individuals have been detained in connection with the two-month-old probe, including current and former Huawei employees, lobbyists, and parliamentary assistants.
Speaking to Anadolu, European Parliament spokesperson Delphine Colard said the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs will examine the requests and prepare a report, which will then be put to a vote.
A final decision on lifting the lawmakers’ immunity will be made in a plenary session.
This is not the first time the European Parliament has dealt with such a request.
In 2023, it lifted the immunity of former Vice President Eva Kaili and other MEPs amid a corruption probe involving alleged bribes from Qatar.
During that investigation, Belgian authorities seized €1.5 million ($1.7 million) in cash from multiple locations.
All suspects in that case, including Kaili and her partner Francesco Giorgi, were eventually released on conditional bail.
In March, French politician Marine Le Pen was also found guilty of embezzling EU funds.