The Belgian judiciary has issued an arrest warrant for former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos as part of its investigation into the “Qatargate” scandal.
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The so-called Qatargate investigation centres on allegations that Qatar and Morocco sought to influence decision-making in the European Parliament through payments and gifts to current and former lawmakers. Both countries have denied wrongdoing.
Belgian authorities are seeking the lifting of Avramopoulos’ immunity so that he can be questioned as part of the investigation.
Avramopoulos was the EU’s commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship between 2014 and 2019 under then Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. He is now a member of the Hellenic parliament with the conservative New Democracy party.
He previously served on the honorary committee of Fight Impunity, an NGO founded by former MEP Antonio Panzeri, a central figure in the Qatargate corruption scandal. The investigation also led to the detention of former Greek MEP Eva Kaili.
According to Belgian prosecutors, Avramopoulos received money from what they describe as a “criminal network”. The former commissioner denies any wrongdoing, saying all payments he received from the NGO were declared in his official asset declarations and reported to the Greek tax authorities.
Belgian authorities have informed their Greek counterparts. Under the prescribed procedure, the case will be transmitted from the Athens Court of Appeal Prosecutor’s Office to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office and, through the Ministry of Justice, to the Greek parliament.
Avramopoulos claimed NGO role was merely ‘honorary’
In a written statement issued on 19 December 2022, the former commissioner said his involvement with Fight Impunity was “entirely without executive or managerial responsibilities”.
He said the committee on which he served, alongside figures including former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, former French prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Italian senator Emma Bonino, was honorary.
Avramopoulos also said he sought and received written approval from the European Commission before accepting the position. He added that the Commission’s Independent Ethical Committee issued a positive opinion on his participation on 10 December 2020.
At the time, Avramopoulos had recently completed his term as commissioner and was subject to the Commission’s post-mandate ethics rules.
According to Avramopoulos, he received €5,000 per month between February 2021 and February 2022. He said the payments were declared and taxed in Greece in accordance with Greek law.
He said he asked for the payments to stop in February 2022 because the organisation’s activities had diminished and that his involvement effectively ended the following month.
Following the Qatargate revelations, Avramopoulos said he immediately resigned from the organisation and requested that his name be removed from its website.
Panzeri later entered into a cooperation agreement with Belgian prosecutors as part of the investigation.
The Belgian authorities are seeking to question Avramopoulos as part of the broader Qatargate investigation. Avramopoulos has not been convicted of any offence and no final judicial determination has been made regarding the allegations.
