Pressure is mounting on MEPs suspected of being involved in Qatargate.
MEP Marc Tarabella has just resigned on Thursday as a member and vice-chairman of the European Parliament delegation to Qatar and other countries of the Arabian Peninsula (DARP), due to the involvement of his name in Qatargate .
The Belgian socialist is one of two MEPs facing having their immunity lifted amid allegations that EU politicians were bribed by Qatar and Morocco. Tarabela has repeatedly insisted on his innocence.
“He stated that he made this decision under the current circumstances in the interest of the good continuation of DARP’s activities,” wrote Hanna Neumann, the German Green MEP who chairs DARP, in an email to delegation members, Politico reports .
Neumann added that the next DARP meeting will be held behind closed doors, “to take stock of the impact of Qatargate on the EU’s relations with the Gulf countries.
Tarabella and Coccolino facing the lifting of their immunity, due to Qataragate
Tarabella had already left the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group, while the Walloon Socialist Party had previously revoked his membership.
Andrea Coccolino , another Italian S&D MEP who is facing the lifting of his immunity and denies wrongdoing, also quit his political group in Parliament.
Tarabela’s decision to quit DARP comes a day after his colleague and S&D MP Maria Arena resigned permanently from the role of chair of the subcommittee on human rights.
