European Parliament Bans Huawei Lobbyists After Arrests

The European Parliament has banned Huawei lobbyists from entering its buildings, following arrests in a bribery probe.

The EU body said on Friday that it had “decided, as a precautionary measure, to suspend the access to parliament of representatives attached to the Huawei company with immediate effect”.

The move came after Belgian police earlier in the week raided multiple locations in the country and detained people accused of being involved in a bribery scheme allegedly linked to promoting Huawei’s trade interests in the European Parliament.

Corruption probe

Prosecutors said the alleged bribery was carried out “under the guise of commercial lobbying”.

Some 21 premises in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia and one in Portugal were searched on Thursday morning, prosecutors said.

The offices of two parliamentary assistants were later sealed at the request of a judge, Belgian federal prosecutors said.

A suspect was also arrested in France, prosecutors said.

They said the alleged bribery was carried out “very discreetly” since 2021 and involved payments for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.

“The alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei,” prosecutors said in a statement.

The Belgian prosecutor’s office said: “Corruption was allegedly practised regularly and very discreetly from 2021 to the present day, under the guise of commercial lobbying and taking various forms, such as compensation for political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses, or regular invitations to football matches.”

Trade policy

Huawei said it was taking the allegations “seriously” and would “urgently communicate with the investigation”.

It said in a statement that it had “a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times”.

The alleged bribery was said to have promoted Huawei’s trade policy, Belgian newspaper Le Soir reported.

No MEPs were directly targeted by the raids, the prosecutor’s office said.

The probe focuses on “active corruption within the European Parliament” as well as “forgery and use of forged documents” within the framework of a “criminal organisation”, prosecutors said, adding that they were also looking into potential money laundering.