EP President Roberta Metsola fights fires as ‘Qatargate’ rocks Strasbourg
It’s already written but there is no city as beautiful and yet as inaccessible as Strasbourg.
They chose it because the French and the Germans had been at war three times and it is a symbol of the – hopefully – permanent peace between the two neighbours.
France must keep a place with German names, German architecture and on the German border.
But Berlin and Paris must have been relieved that – so far – none of their nationals have been implicated, arrested, searched or charged with anything related to “Qatargate”.
Instead, it is Athens and Rome that worry as Italian and Greek surnames appear all over this enveloping scandal. Four people linked to these nations have been arrested and some have already been charged by the Belgian authorities.
Eva Kaili is in a Brussels prison but said she broke no rules.
A strike by the judicial services delayed his appearance before a Belgian judge. But her workplace – the European Parliament – has already stripped her of her role as vice-president and her political party – Pasok – home of political ascendancy Papandreou – has fired her.
The atmosphere last week was therefore as icy as the weather when hundreds of MEPs traveled to the Alsatian capital.
So do I, in a travel odyssey that could be in any remake of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles—but for the comedy.
I had pre-booked and confirmed an interview with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola a week in advance but was not shocked when she canceled Monday evening as I sat on a bus from Frankfurt to Strasbourg with a group of deputies – jostle on mobiles to find the slightest new information on the institution of which they are the face.
I watched with them Ms Metsola’s incandescent speech (and her first public statement) on the scandal on Monday night – some of which was made up but most of which was white anger that her well-laid legislative plans needed to be benched and overshadowed by the filthy caravan of bribery and corruption that had come to town and parked in his driveway.
All other votes and proposals were rendered moot over the following days.
Brave Ukrainian relief workers who received the Sakharov Peace Prize, the latest set of sanctions against Russia – even the looming trade war with the United States over state aid had to step aside as the bright halogen light MPs accepting suitcases of cash to dilute any criticism of the oil-rich World Cup hosts blinded all other stories.
I started and finished the two shows we broadcast live from the gleaming radio studios in the belly of Parliament with Qatargate – I didn’t want to but I had to.
I have spoken to many MPs and former MPs, including Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, about the black paint that has tainted the entire institution.
Then, as I stood in line for lunch in what is probably the worst building in Christendom, my phone vibrated with a message from the president’s communications chief. Could I come to his office right away for an interview?
My heart raced. Ms Metsola had avoided all other scheduled individual interviews, keeping her powder dry for the big speeches in front of her Plenary peers.
I said I would gladly do the interview, but only on the condition that she also answered questions about corruption. She agreed, and I was shown to the 15th-floor presidential suite overlooking Strasbourg’s snowy European Quarter, including the Council of Europe’s ‘conversation lounge’ – now devoid of any Russian membership.
Roberta Metsola is a “young” president.
Unlike its three predecessors, it overflows with energy and determination. Its mandate is less than three years and it must therefore leave its mark on European legislation during this period.
This corruption crisis means that she becomes perhaps better known than any of her predecessors – ironic given that she comes from the EU’s smallest member state, Malta.
She arrives in the reception area of her own presidential area around 2:25 p.m. munching on a pretzel — not exactly the lunch of kings or queens, but something to tide her over as she moves, at a reasonable pace, from meetings at award ceremonies. , chairing plenary sessions, press conferences and now media interviews. Although she only did one: mine.
She speaks in French to the formally dressed guards of parliament wearing silver chains, in English to her staff, in Italian and Maltese in her home country and she has probably taught her husband Finnish.
I start our interview by asking her how she will vote on the amendment suspending the open skies agreement signed last year between the EU and Qatar – an agreement which seems to benefit only one airline: Qatar Airways.
Then, I raise the fact that MEPs can hire whoever they want and that nobody is sanctioned if they do not declare meetings with lobbyists, etc.
She remains unfazed as you will hear and remains chatty and engaging afterwards.
Even though I was told I would only have eight minutes, I was still with him 26 minutes after the first handshake.
Jokes aside, she will have work to do reforming an institution that has resisted reform and true transparency for decades. A kind of Orange Order with better offices.
It will be under pressure from the other two major EU institutions: the Commission and the Council. It’s that these last two, even if they are not directly affected by this brewing scandal, know that they too will be tarred with its putrid brush impregnated with grafts.
If Ms. Metsola cannot clean her own house, garbage will spread throughout the neighborhood.
You can listen to the full interview here: