European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili has been arrested on corruption charges

Suitcases full of Qatari cash, €600,000 in total: The arrest of European Parliament vice-president Eva Kaili is only the tip of the iceberg of the institutionalised corruption at the highest levels of the EU, and exposes the ownership of politicians in Brussels by lobbyists.

Her party in Greece, PASOK – better known for helping the EU and the IMF bankrupt an entire nation – rushed to distance itself from its former MEP, as did the European Parliament group of Social Democrats of which it is part.

That cynical move can’t hide the facts: that while politicians like Kaili make proclamations of “pro-Europeanism” to disguise the most anti-European agenda, one of austerity for the many and socialism for the rich, a lot of money is flowing into their pockets – coming even from the Qatari regime which is at the “vanguard of labour rights” as the MEP herself once said.

This EU, full of corruption and shaky leadership, cannot be reformed – it can only be transformed by confronting it. We reject this EU and the corrupt political elites in Greece and elsewhere that give it legitimacy, to the point that Kaili had no concerns about hiding bags of dirty money in her house.

DiEM25 and our parties MERA25 – in Greece and everywhere in Europe – will continue to give voice to all who also want to see real change, at long last.

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