Belgium has issued a European arrest warrant for a former European commissioner in the Qatargate case

Belgian authorities have officially issued a European arrest warrant for Dimitris Avramopoulos, the former European Commissioner for Migration from Greece. The decision was made as part of a large-scale investigation into the “Qatargate” corruption scandal. The politician, who currently serves as a member of the Greek Parliament for the ruling New Democracy party, has been charged with participating in a criminal organization. 

Investigators are looking into Avramopoulos’s financial income from the non-governmental organization “Fight Impunity.” This organization was founded by former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri—a key figure in a corruption scheme involving lobbying on behalf of Qatar and Morocco. 

The former European Commissioner served on the organization’s honorary board and received a monthly stipend of 5,000 euros, with total payments amounting to approximately 73,000 euros. The situation escalated and the arrest warrant was issued partly because, about a year ago, Avramopoulos ignored an official summons from Belgian investigators to testify.

The politician himself categorically denies any wrongdoing. He stated that his involvement in the organization was purely nominal, that it was dissolved three years ago, and that all financial payments had been pre-approved by the European Commission’s Ethics Committee and declared to the tax authorities. Avramopoulos called Brussels’ actions “arbitrary and suspicious” and emphasized that he does not intend to hide behind his parliamentary immunity. Currently, Greek judicial authorities have already initiated the legal process of transferring documents to the Greek Parliament, which must vote to lift his parliamentary immunity so that the European arrest warrant can be executed.