By Pieter Cleppe
Qatar has warned that the EU’s handling of a corruption scandal in the European Parliament threatens ongoing discussions around energy security, following allegiations that Qatar and Morocco sought to bribe EU legislators to influence policy. Four people have reportedly been charged with corruption, money laundering and being part of a criminal gang after police seized almost €1.5m in cash.
According to Stephen Stapczynski, a Bloomberg senior reporter covering energy & commodities in Singapore, “the timing isn’t great. Europe is rushing to sign LNG deals with Qatar in order to curb dependence on Russia”.
Qatar warns that the EU’s handling of a corruption scandal in parliament threatens ongoing discussions around energy security 🇶🇦💥🇪🇺
⚠️ The timing isn’t great. Europe is rushing to sign LNG deals with Qatar in order to curb dependence on Russiahttps://t.co/yBbqlyCxKU
— Stephen Stapczynski (@SStapczynski) December 19, 2022
A Qatari diplomat stated the country is not threatening to cut LNG supplies to Europe or politicise gas exports, but he said:
“We are simply saying [that] to stop communication in the EU parliament this way limits co-operation.”