EditBelgium issues European arrest warrant for former EU Commissioner Avramopoulos in Qatargate probe
The development comes nearly four years after the scandal first erupted with the name of the Greek politician featuring prominently
Belgian prosecutors have issued a European arrest warrant for Greek MP and former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos as part of the long-running Qatargate corruption investigation.
Avramopoulos, a senior member of Greece’s ruling New Democracy party, is wanted on allegations linked to participation in a criminal organisation. Investigators are examining payments totalling around €73,000 (approximately €5,000 per month) he received from the NGO Fight Impunity, founded by the scandal’s central figure, former Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
Belgian authorities had summoned Avramopoulos to testify about a year ago, but he did not appear, which reportedly contributed to the decision to issue the warrant. The case centres on alleged Qatari efforts to influence European Parliament decisions through bribes and lobbying via the NGO.
Avramopoulos’s associates maintain that the payments were for legitimate services, were properly declared, and received prior approval from the European Commission’s Ethics Committee. They stress that his cooperation with the NGO ended before the Qatargate scandal broke in December 2022.
The development comes nearly four years after the scandal first erupted with the name of Avramopoulos featuring prominently – highlighting the slow pace of the Belgian investigation. Avramopoulos served as EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship from 2014 to 2019. Belgian authorities are now seeking the lifting of his parliamentary immunity in Greece before any arrest can proceed. Avramopoulos was elected to the Hellenic Parliament at the June 2023 Greek legislative election.
Caption: On 26 November 2019, Dimitris Avramopoulos, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, received Ahmad Hassan Al-Hamadi, Secretary General of the Qatari Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Updated: June 22, 2026 - 18:56
