Qatar Denies Bribery Allegations... "European Parliament's Actions Harm Energy Security"

Eva Kaili, Vice-President of the European Parliament.
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Qatar, the host country of the 2022 World Cup, strongly denied allegations of bribing current and former members of the European Parliament and warned that discriminatory actions against Qatar could impact global energy security.

According to major foreign media including AFP, the Qatar Delegation to the European Union (EU) issued a statement on the 18th (local time) saying, "We firmly reject claims that our government has committed illegal acts," and reiterated that allegations linking the Qatari government to bribery cases are incorrect.

The delegation stated, "Controversy has arisen and until now the Qatari government has been the target of criticism and attacks," warning that "such discriminatory actions will negatively affect discussions on global energy security and poverty alleviation."

Earlier, Belgian investigative authorities secured the custody of six individuals on bribery charges, accusing a Gulf country of lobbying the European Parliament, and indicted four of them. Foreign media such as The New York Times reported that Qatar is the Gulf country mentioned by Belgium. Although the names of the indicted individuals have not been disclosed, major foreign media reported that one of them is Eva Kaili, a vice-chair of the European Parliament.

Major foreign media, citing anonymous diplomatic sources, reported that Qatar is considering redefining its international relations as negative criticism against the country spreads. Qatar is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and some EU countries are using Qatar as an alternative supplier to replace Russian gas. Germany previously signed a contract on the 29th of last month to receive 2 million tons of LNG annually from Qatar for 15 years.

An EU senior official told major foreign media, "Since the Russia-Ukraine war, Qatar has helped EU countries secure gas supplies," expressing concern that "this bribery case will certainly cause difficulties in international cooperation between EU countries and Qatar."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.