Belgian police have carried out 21 raids across Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia as part of a corruption investigation involving the European Parliament and alleged so-called “cash-for-influence” payments, with Chinese tech company Huawei linked to the probe.
According to Belgian newspaper Le Soir, the investigation pertains to activities in Brussels since 2021. Prosecutors have said that the investigation targets “active corruption within the European Parliament” as well as “forgery and use of forged documents” within the context of a “criminal organisation”, with suspicions of money laundering.
Prosecutors stated that the alleged corruption was carried out “under the guise of commercial lobbying.” According to Belgian media, several suspected Huawei lobbyists were detained over accusations of bribing sitting or former MEPs to encourage them to support certain favourable trade policies.
Prosecutors said that the corruption allegedly took “various forms”, including “compensation for political positions, excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses, and regular invitations to football matches.”
A policing source told AFP that no MEPs were among the arrested individuals.
“Corruption was allegedly practiced regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day,” prosecutors added.
Prosecutors also confirmed that local police in Portugal had searched an address connected to the case and that multiple people had been taken into custody for questioning.
In a statement to Gript, Huawei said: “Huawei takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation. Huawei has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times.”
This development comes at a pivotal moment for the EU’s relationship to China, which is the 27-nation bloc’s second biggest trade partner.
The recently initiated tariff war with US President Donald Trump, which appears set to escalate in the coming weeks, has led some Brussels lawmakers to urge the bloc to form a closer trade relationship with Beijing, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen telling EU diplomats last month that the EU could “expand our trade and investment ties [with China].”
It’s unclear at this point what impact, if any, such an investigation may have on EU-Sino relations.
The new investigation follows more than two years after the “Qatar-gate” scandal, wherein several EU lawmakers were accused of accepting payments to advance the interests of Qatar and Morocco within the European Parliament via legislation.
One of the individuals arrested in that investigation was a Vice President of the European Parliament.
All parties involved vigorously denied any wrongdoing.