On 14 February, a debate with students took place at the University of Economics in Prague. I registered to attend and received a confirmation of registration. To my surprise, I was not on the list? Fortunately, the young organizers did not call the police on me as they did on 7 November in Vienna, where I wanted to listen to a lecture by Foreign Minister Lipavsky. The students were reasonable, waited to see if anyone would come and registered me again. I did, but there was only room for me in the last row. It was, of course, unlikely that I would take part in the discussion. It was confirmed. I attach the audio recording of the whole of the EP President's speech.
I did not speak to President Metsola until afterwards, without any problems at all. I gave her my letter, which has been received and will be received by ambassadors of many countries. It concerns the security of the Schengen area and the future of Europe. Naturally, I cannot publish it yet. I am publishing below the two questions that I was unable to ask in the debate and have passed on to her personally:
First question: One of the EU's priorities is security and respect for EU law. This is linked to a proper Schengen visa policy. The Member States must cooperate. In the event of corruption and fraud, the EU must act, otherwise citizens will lose confidence in EU institutions. I have sent you information about serious visa fraud at the Czech embassy in Morocco. Visas were sold for money and exchanged for business deals at the expense of France, Germany, etc. This is unacceptable and the EU should act. The honest consul who started refusing such suspicious visas was stripped of her job and her career and health were ruined. She defended EU law and the EU should defend her. The response of EC official Giotakos that this is only a Czech matter is absurd. Visas are common to the whole of Europe and state corruption is very dangerous. We want a future Europe that is safe, not corrupt, and we must help each other and support the honest ones. I would like to hear your position and ask for your help.
Second question: In January 2023, the German weekly SPIEGEL published a lengthy article on corruption in the EP, which I read in the print edition but could not find on the Internet. What is the state of the investigation today? Has it been closed? Who has been punished or has it not yet been concluded? Does it strike me that, with the EU's proclaimed transparency, the scandal has died down and the media are still silent?
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Corruption at the highest level of the EU: secret meeting in Suite 412
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