Motivated by Revenge, This Is How the UAE Raised Qatargate Issue in the EU

In light of the financial bribery scandal in Europe, known as Qatargate, in which Doha is accused of providing funds to officials in the European Parliament with the aim of influencing European decisions, new details related to a Gulf state standing behind raising the scandal started to bubble on the surface

The issue was raised in December 2022 while Qatar was hosting the FIFA World Cup. Western reports published a financial scandal about Doha providing huge financial bribes to figures in the European Parliament to influence European political and economic decisions.

However, through a statement on December 18, 2022, Qatar announced that it categorically rejected allegations linking the country to misconduct related to the European Parliament corruption scandal.

 

Emirati Hands

After Qatar rejected these accusations, Italy 24 Press News website revealed on December 30, 2022, that hidden Emirati hands were behind the whole story, motivated by revenge against the Secretary-General of the No Peace Without Justice organization, Niccolo Vega Talamanca; because of his disclosure of information about the Emirati lobby and attempts to mislead through the media.

The website stated that the non-governmental organization issued a report in June 2022 about the UAE’s maneuvers to influence societal decisions, methods of misinformation in the media, and official reports, with a joint effort from Vega Talamanca that prompted the UAE to seek revenge.

A Belgian appeals court also decided to continue the detention of Vega Talamanca, an Italian suspect in a corruption scandal in the European Parliament, after prosecutors contested a decision to release him while being tracked by an electronic bracelet.

Vega Talamanca was one of four arrested earlier in December 2022 on charges of corruption, money laundering, and criminal organization within the European Parliament in one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit Brussels.

A few months after the No Peace Without Justice report, the Watergate case was exposed, in which he was accused along with Vega Talamanca and others, including the Greek socialist politician Eva Kaili, who was vice-president of the European Parliament.

The Italian website reported that Kaili had previously defended Qatar in the council against allegations of mistreating foreign workers, and her Greek Socialist Party then expelled her.

During its hosting of the World Cup, Qatar was subjected to a fierce campaign from Western countries, led by Germany, which accused Doha of not respecting human rights concerning the foreign workers who participated in the preparations for the 2022 World Cup.

Among the defendants in the case are Pier Antonio Panzeri, a former member of the European Parliament from the Italian center-left and founder of the group Fight Impunity, in addition to Francesco Giorgi, a companion of Kaili and a political advisor on human rights and the Middle East.

In the same context, Dagospia, the Italian news website, revealed on December 28, 2022, that the UAE has hidden hands in the case of the European Parliament and its suspicions of corruption.

The Italian website said it is possible that there are Emirati hands in the case and that the National Security Adviser, Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the one who leaked everything to Brussels most of the time.

 

The World Cup

At the same level, New York Times, The Weekly, revealed Abu Dhabi’s leadership of various operations against Qatar, especially the media attack targeting the World Cup, confirming the logic of reports that the UAE was behind the Qatargate case.

The magazine stated in a report published on December 28, 2022, that Tahnoon bin Zayed has been leading Abu Dhabi agents worldwide for a long time, in compliance with the orders of his brother, President Mohammed bin Zayed.

It explained that Tahnoun was responsible for the tasks, but bin Zayed was the main decision-maker in Abu Dhabi.

Bin Zayed enjoys an astonishing number of American contacts, including the Lebanese–American businessman and his advisor, George Nader, as well as Thomas Barrack, the former president of Colony Capital, to manage Investments and Chairman of the Inauguration Committee of former US President Donald Trump.

Abu Dhabi’s proxies also include retired senior CIA veterans, such as Richard A. Clarke.

The magazine said it seems that the accusations against Qatar in the recent European Parliament scandal were orchestrated, as the parliament noticed multiple activities of the Emirates that are in the interest of Abu Dhabi and not the European Union.

The Qatargate scandal was not far from the 2022 World Cup. When Doha was ready to receive delegations coming to participate in the World Cup, the UAE was busy weaving wholesale plots against its Gulf neighbor.

On October 10, 2022, the European Microscope on Middle East Issues revealed that Abu Dhabi had funded a systematic incitement campaign against the Qatar World Cup.

Euro Scope, the European institution concerned with monitoring interactions with Middle East issues, reported that organizations claiming to be human rights and members of club fan associations in several European countries, including Germany and France, were active in calling for a boycott of the World Cup after secretly receiving sums of money from the UAE.

It said that these parties are trying to launch campaigns among the fans of European clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United to boycott the World Cup at Emirati instigation.

Euro Scope stated that the European Football Association and local federations, especially in the five major leagues (English, Spanish, German, Italian, and French), are aware of such politicized activities.

The UAE went further, which was revealed by the Union of African Journalists on October 25, 2022, regarding its incitement of journalistic bodies and unions to boycott the Qatar World Cup.

In a statement, the Union of African Journalists condemned the UAE’s interference and its contact with African press unions to boycott the World Cup.

The Gulf 24 website published on November 26, 2022, that the UAE hatched a plan to thwart the World Cup in Qatar through scenarios, the most important of which was buying tickets, holding them, and not attending so that the World Cup stands would appear empty.

 

Playing with Fire

Regarding Qatar’s position on the accusations, the Qatari political analyst, Ali al-Hail, said whoever opens the doors closes them, and whoever ignites the fire extinguishes them. The European Parliament is the one that “played with fire” and accused Qatar without evidence.

During an interview with the BBC on December 21, 2022, al-Hail added that it is true the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, said that European democracy is under threat, but she did not point the finger at Qatar.

He continued to say her deputy, who was arrested—Kaili—with 600,000 euros in her apartment, denied any relationship with this money or any relationship with Qatar.

Al-Hail added that the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, who personally said that he has been fighting organized crime in the European Parliament and the European Union since 2020, did not issue any statement accusing Qatar.

The Qatari analyst demanded whoever claims to have facts and names regarding Doha’s involvement in the case must prove that these 600,000 euros came from Qatar.

He pointed out that the European Parliament is multicultural, each of which has its own concepts of corruption, as Belgium is sandwiched between the Netherlands, France, and Germany, and it is known to be full of money laundering networks, and these are the words of the Belgian Minister of Justice himself.

Al-Hail stressed that Qatar, since the first day when Le Soir newspaper and other newspapers were published in Belgium, denied it directly with an official statement, although all the talk was in the media because Qatar was hosting the World Cup finals and did not want any taint or suspicion.

He pointed out that pressure groups exist within the European Union as well as in the US Congress and that Qatar’s position categorically denies that it is involved in any corruption case.

If a Qatari diplomat in Brussels goes to have a cup of coffee in the cafe with a European parliamentarian by virtue of a personal relationship, and they call this involvement or corruption, then this is another issue, he said.

Doha denied any involvement in the corruption case being investigated by the Belgian authorities. Qatar’s mission to the European Union said that “prejudices” prompted the European Parliament to vote to suspend work on legislation related to Qatar and to prevent Qatari representatives from entering parliament.

The statement said on December 18, 2022, that the decision to impose such discriminatory restrictions would negatively affect regional and global security cooperation, in addition to the ongoing discussions about global energy poverty and security.

Qatar was criticized and attacked in the European Parliament’s investigation and is deeply disappointed that the Belgian government has not made any effort to communicate with the Qatari government to find out the facts.