Pro-Russian Moldovan governor ‘signs fake gas contract’ for her region
A pro-Russian governor in Moldova has allegedly signed a “fake” contract to supply cheap gas to her region.
Corruption
Latest reporting and analysis on corruption.
EU nations lost out on €61 billion in VAT in 2021, EC report finds
European Union Member States lost out on a total of €61 billion in VAT payments in 2021, according to the European Commission VAT Gap Report 2023 released on…
NatWest bank ‘broke privacy rules over Nigel Farage’
The former boss of UK lender NatWest breached arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage's privacy rights by sharing information about his banking activities, the country’s privacy…
Albania indicts a former PM, looking to boost its EU accession prospects
Albanian prosecutors indicted former prime minister Sali Berisha on corruption charges on October 22 in what proponents of the country’s accession to the European…
MEP accuses Belgium of failing ‘exploited’ Romanian lorry drivers
Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș expressed outrage at the Belgian Government's failure to compensate what he called exploited Romanian lorry drivers.
EP hearing ‘hidden’ from MEPs amid Romanian financial chaos
The European Unions's financial overseers have seemingly dodged serious questions from the European Parliament amid a brewing financial scandal in Romania.
Belgian justice minister resigns over Brussels terror attack
The Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, has stepped down, taking responsibility for errors made regarding the terror attack in Brussels on October…
EP condemns Malta over ‘institutional failure of law enforcement and justice’
The European Parliament has approved a scathing resolution regarding Malta with an overwhelming majority.
‘Hypocrisy at its finest’: Hungary’s foreign minister slams Estonian PM’s criticism of Orbán-Putin meeting
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán received harsh criticism over his bonding with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Beijing on October 17-18 but…
Baltic Sea gas pipeline damaged via ‘mechanical’ means, minister claims
A major pipeline located in the Baltic Sea was damaged via "mechanical" means, Estonia's defence minister has claimed.
Former EC chief Juncker opposes speedy Ukrainian EU accession
Jean-Claude Juncker has warned the European Union against admitting Ukraine to the bloc too fast, claiming the country is "corrupt at all levels of society".
AfD MEP denounces ‘schizophrenic’ German media allegations
A senior MEP within Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has denounced one of the country's major media outlets as acting in a "schizophrenic" manner…
Facial recognition technology now available to Western states could make China look like amateurs in mass surveillance
For me, the moment the surveillance society really began to hit home was as far back as 2010, when primary schools in the UK started fingerprinting their pupils…
‘Clapped-out second-hand tankers’ enable Russian oil to avoid Western price-cap sanctions
The majority of oil exported by the Russian Federation is avoiding price-cap sanctions imposed upon it by the West.
Paris prosecutors want to try Marine Le Pen and 26 others over alleged misuse of European public funds
The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office said on September 22 that Marine Le Pen and 26 people affiliated with her Rassemblement National Party should stand trial over…
Poland calls visa scandal an exaggerated ‘media fact’ to discredit government
Poland's government has written to the European Union's security commissioner alleging that a cash-for-visas scandal is an exaggerated "media fact" timed to discredit…
Belgian Socialist party leader under investigation again
Conner Rousseau, the President of the Belgian Flemish socialist party (Vooruit), is under investigation for allegedly making "racist and xenophobic" remarks towards…
Qatargate probe in jeopardy as lawyers block investigation until May 2024
Qatargate, the investigation into possible corruption in the European Parliament, has hit a major road block as defence lawyers claim fundamental legal procedural…
EC ‘sought to cover up request by former Commissioner Neelie Kroes to lobby for Uber’
The European Commission hushed up an attempt by former Commissioner Neelie Kroes to secure an exemption to ethics rules that would allow her to lobby on behalf of…
Seven charged amid visa-issuing corruption probe in Poland
Polish prosecutors have charged seven people in the visa-issuing corruption scandal that has led to the dismissal of a deputy foreign minister and calls for the…
EU lifts sanctions on Russian businessmen after legal challenges
The European Union has lifted sanctions on three Russian businessmen and one Russian government official amid legal setbacks.
Belgian MEP Marie Arena says she knows nothing about cash stash found in son’s flat
Arena said she wanted to reach out to her voters who "trusted the causes I championed.
European Ombudsman hammers EU over Qatargate scandal
Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly addressed the anti-corruption measures taken as a result of the Qatargate scandal and found that too little had been done.
Big spender Tusk vows to prosecute his foes in election manifesto
Tusk's Civic Platform party-led alliance has accused a number of ruling Polish officials of engaging in criminal activity, up to and including violating the country's…
‘Russia will be happy if you don’t succeed in joining EU,’ Borrell tells Georgia
Russia "will be pleased if Georgia fails in joining the European Union", EU foreign minister Josep Borrell told press in the Caucasian country’s capital, Tbilisi,…
Qatargate: ‘In 10 years I have never seen so much pressure’
In a two separate interviews, Belgian federal prosecutor Frédéric Van Leeuw and former lead Qatargate investigator Michel Claise have unveiled the problematic…
Polish opposition assembles army of monitors ahead of national elections
Poland’s main opposition block led by Donald Tusk said it will have in place more than 50,000 observers monitoring the general elections set to take place in the…
Ukraine defence minister may be removed from post amid corruption allegations
Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov is, according to Ukrainian media, on the verge of being removed from his job.
Qatargate: Police find almost €300,000 in cash at home of son of MEP Marie Arena
Just over €280,000 in cash was discovered during a police raid at the home of the son of Belgian MEP Marie Arena.
‘Power corrupts’: but whether more ‘absolutely’ in the EU or US is a close call
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”