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Greece's parliament removed the immunity of former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on September 17, allowing for further investigation into the 'Qatargate' scandal. The case involves allegations that EU officials accepted bribes from Qatar to influence policymaking; Avramopoulos denies any wrongdoing and plans to voluntarily appear before Belgian authorities. A European arrest warrant was issued in June for Avramopoulos, who served as European Commissioner for Migration from 2014 to 2019 and later joined the NGO Fight Impunity, which is at the center of the probe.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In September, Greece’s parliament lifted the immunity of Dimitris Avramopoulos, a former European Commissioner and current lawmaker with the ruling conservative New Democracy party. This action was taken in response to an ongoing “Qatargate” investigation where Avramopoulos is one of several EU officials accused of accepting bribes from Qatar. In June, a Belgian investigating judge issued a European arrest warrant for him on charges including participation in a criminal group and public corruption. Despite the allegations, Avramopoulos has denied any wrongdoing or links to the case, asserting that his involvement with an anti-corruption organization called Fight Impunity was lawful and audited. Qatar also denies any wrongdoing related to these accusations. With parliamentary immunity now lifted, authorities can proceed with further legal actions against Avramopoulos.
Written for “Qatargate Probe Advances” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 16044 · logged 2026-09-17
Greek parliament lifts immunity of ex-Commissioner amid 'Qatargate' probe
ATHENS, Sept 17 -
asserted
parliament → lift → probe
Greece's parliament lifted the immunity of one of the country's former European Commissioners on Thursday, clearing the way for further action by authorities investigating the "Qatargate" corruption case, one of the biggest scandals to hit the EU.
asserted
parliament → lift → EU
Dimitris Avramopoulos — a former Athens mayor and current lawmaker with the ruling conservative New Democracy party — has denied any wrongdoing or links to the case, under which several EU officials have been accused of accepting bribes from Qatar.
asserted
officials → rule → Qatar
Qatar has also repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
asserted
Qatar → deny → wrongdoing
A Belgian investigating judge issued a European arrest warrant for Avramopoulos in June linked to the case, on accusations of participation in a criminal group, public corruption and money laundering, according to a government document seen by Reuters.
uncertain
judge → investigate → Reuters
Until Thursday's vote, the 73-year-old had been shielded from arrest and prosecution by the parliamentary immunity granted to lawmakers.
asserted
old → shield → lawmakers
On Thursday, Greek media quoted Avramopoulos as saying that he planned to appear voluntarily before Belgian authorities.
asserted
he → quote → authorities
The Belgian prosecutor's office did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.
asserted
office → reply → comment
Belgian authorities say they have seized about €1.5 million ($1.72 million) in cash during raids linked to the whole Qatargate case, which emerged in 2022.
asserted
which → say → 2022
Some money was found stuffed into a large suitcase in a Brussels hotel.
asserted
money → find → hotel
Investigators have alleged Qatar paid out cash or made payments via a non-profit organisations to influence European Union policymaking — accusations denied by Doha.
Avramopoulos served as the European Commissioner for Migration in 2014 t 2019.
asserted
Avramopoulos → allege → 2014
From 2020 to 2021, he started working as an honorary board member for Fight Impunity, an NGO linked to the case, the Greek government document said.
asserted
document → start → case
In June, when the warrant was issued, Avramopoulos said in a statement that his past involvement with Fight Impunity was "lawful, audited, approved" and any association of his name with the case by Belgian authorities is "arbitrary, unacceptable, suspicious".
asserted
association → issue → authorities
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