politics
Belgian Judiciary Issues Arrest Warrant for Former EU Commissioner Avramopoulos
Euronews reported that Belgian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Dimitris Avramopoulos in the Qatargate investigation and are seeking to lift his immunity. The former commissioner denies wrongdoing and says all payments were declared.
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The Belgian judiciary issued an arrest warrant for Dimitris Avramopoulos as part of the Qatargate investigation, Euronews reported. Authorities are seeking the lifting of his immunity so he can be questioned. Avramopoulos served as EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship from 2014 to 2019.
He is now a member of the Hellenic Parliament representing the New Democracy party and previously served on the honorary committee of the NGO Fight Impunity. Belgian prosecutors stated that Avramopoulos received money from a criminal network. Avramopoulos said all payments he received from Fight Impunity were declared in his official asset declarations and reported to Greek tax authorities.
He received €5,000 per month from the NGO between February 2021 and February 2022. Avramopoulos requested that the payments stop in February 2022 and immediately resigned from the organization after the Qatargate revelations. On 19 December 2022, Avramopoulos issued a written statement describing his Fight Impunity role as entirely without executive or managerial responsibilities.
The European Commission's Independent Ethical Committee issued a positive opinion on his participation on 10 December 2020. Belgian authorities informed Greek authorities of the case. The case will be transmitted from the Athens Court of Appeal Prosecutor's Office to the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office, then through the Ministry of Justice to the Greek parliament.
Antonio Panzeri, founder of Fight Impunity, entered into a cooperation agreement with Belgian prosecutors. Avramopoulos has not been convicted of any offence and no final judicial determination has been made regarding the allegations.
