Belgian authorities request to lift immunity of five MEPs

News site Politico reported earlier this week that Belgian authorities had requested the lifting of immunity for five Members of the European Parliament. Some parliamentarians had themselves come forward with the news, while other names were leaked through sources. There was no comment from the Belgian judiciary, but it was expected that Metsola would read the names on Wednesday during the plenary session. That has now happened, although Metsola did not provide information about the reason for the request for lifting.

The five in question are Maltese socialist Daniel Attard, Bulgarian liberal Nikola Minchev, and Italian conservative parliamentarians Salvatore De Meo, Fulvio Martusciello, and Giusi Princi. “The requests have been forwarded to the legal affairs committee,” Metsola said in her brief statement.

The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office has been conducting an investigation into corruption practices related to lobbying by Huawei for some time. According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the corruption has occurred regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to now, under the guise of commercial lobbying and in various forms, such as payments for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as restaurant and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.