“Every month 5 thousand euros …”: Here are the bills of Panziri

a”Fixed feeTo promote the activity of NGOs d Antonio PanziriThen the fight against impunity ended up at the heart of the Belgian investigation and was considered by the prosecution.recycling centreTo receive this consideration for his commitment was the former European Commissioner for Migration, the Greek Dimitris Avramopoulos. As mentioned before He presses Hence it is confirmed by the person concerned, the NGO would have recognized him fee from 60 thousand euros awareness campaigns carried out to organize it.Great friend Panziri“.

NGO promotional activities

In fact, Avramopoulos identified the former Italian trade unionist, who has now been arrested in Belgium on charges corruption and recycling. He did so during a conference in Greece on April 13, 2022. The former EU Commissioner took the podium in the company of Panziri, presenting him as his own.great friend“and define it”A prominent figure in Italian politicsIn addition to this event, the Greek politician also participated in a previous webinar held on July 12, 2022, organized by the Delphi Economic Forum. On the occasion of that conference, he also wrote an article on the fight against impunity, published on the NewEurope portal Combined, these were the only activities that the ex-commissioner carried out in collaboration with the NGO Panzeri and for which he received Piece From 5 thousand euros per month. “The compensation was for one year, from February 2021 to February 2022, in the amount of 5,000 euros per month, declared and taxed in Greece.“, He made it clear Greek politician.

Brussels mandate

In a memo issued yesterday, Avramopoulos (who was neither involved in Qatargate nor under investigation) made it clear that he was Pay From the fight against impunity only until February this year. “Since the activity of the organization has decreased significantly, I asked for compensation to be terminated. After March, my engagement basically endedHe said that participation in the Delphi Economic Forum refers to He pressesdated April 2022. The Greek politician also stressed that his activity carried out in favor of the NGO Panziri was so transparent, in the sunlight, that he received “Written permission By Ursula von der Leyeneven if the NGO is not registered in the EU Transparency Register.My participation in Fight Impunity was from the beginning without executive or administrative responsibilities (…) For my participation and the accompanying compensation, I requested the approval of the European Commission and it was given to me in writingAvramopoulos then left his position as an honorary member of the NGO’s board of directors on the same day as the arrests.

internal investigation

However, this circumstance caused a certain embarrassment on the upper floors of the Berlaymont Building, so much so that the executive officer of the European Union immediately announced theinternal investigation To check any incorrect behavior by the political exponent of Greek citizenship. The President of the European Commission had authorized him to be remunerated on the grounds that he was supposed to do “Awareness campaigns“, for example by publishing articles, participating in conferences or giving interviews. But the public events of “fighting against impunity” in which he participated, in fact, were only two (at least according to what has been found so far). The committee also explained that it had initiated checks to understand whether Avramopoulos complied or not during his term of office.the Restrictive terms“It is required by this type of activity, that is, not to have contact with the committee itself or its members.

Avramopoulos’ Twitter profile shows that on October 3 the politician met with “FriendVera Jourova, Commission Vice-President in charge of Transparency and Values. However, in July, she was on vacation in Greece with Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for the Budget. Meetings held in her personal capacity (and therefore permitted) or lobbying activities permitted? That’s what They are now calling for it in Brussels after the shock Qatargate and its frightening repercussions.

Με την καλή μου φίλη, Αντιπρόεδρο της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής για αξίες και τη διαφά, @employee. pic.twitter.com/eDRCK387il

– Dimitris Avramopoulos (@Avramopoulos) October 3, 2022