European Parliament names 5 lawmakers targeted in Huawei bribery scandal

Authorities ask lawmaking body to waive the accused’s immunity so that they can be investigated under the two-month probe

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European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Wednesday named the lawmakers, who included a fellow Maltese politician, a Bulgarian and three Italians. Photo: AP

Published: 2:28am, 22 May 2025Updated: 6:50pm, 22 May 2025

Corrected [6:50pm, 22 May, 2025]

[6:50pm, 22 May, 2025]
An earlier version of this story said Huawei denied wrongdoing, but it has clarified that it does not.

The European Parliament has named five of its lawmakers whom Belgian prosecutors have targeted in a bribery scandal investigation involving Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies.

Authorities have asked the parliament to waive the lawmakers’ immunity so that they can be investigated under the probe, which has been running for two months.

They are accused of accepting gifts from Huawei in exchange for lobbying for the firm’s interests in the parliament.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Wednesday named the lawmakers as Maltese Socialist MEP Daniel Attard, Bulgarian centrist lawmaker Nikola Minchev and three Italian members from the centre-right European People’s Party – Salvatore De Meo, Fulvio Martusciello and Giusi Princi.

The parliament’s committee on legal affairs will now consider the request from Belgium’s federal prosecutor and draft a report. The committee will vote on waiving immunity, after which a final decision will be taken in a vote of all the parliament’s 720 members.

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

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