00:00The Greek Parliament has voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of former European
00:05Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. Of the 266 MPs present, 264 voted in favor of,
00:14while two voted, quote, present. Avramopoulos, who is reportedly the subject of a European
00:21arrest warrant, is now at the disposal of the Belgian authorities as part of their
00:26investigation into the Katargate scandal. The 73-year-old New Democracy MP served as European
00:33Commissioner for Migration from 2014 to 2019 and has categorically denied any wrongdoing.
00:41He had himself requested that his parliamentary immunity be lifted, stating in a memorandum
00:48submitted to Parliament that he wished to cooperate fully with the competent authorities.
00:53The Belgian investigation concerns, among other things, Avramopoulos' relationship with the
00:59NGO Fight Impunity, founded by former Italian MEP Antonio Panteri. He has maintained that his
01:07involvement was entirely lawful and that the payments he received in connection with the
01:12organization were duly declared to the tax authorities.
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