Socialist European Union vice president arrested amid EU corruption probe

One of the socialist vice presidents of the European Union was arrested on Friday as part of a corruption probe possibly involving a “Gulf country,” according to media reports.

Eva Kaili “was brought in for questioning in Brussels on Friday evening in connection with an investigation into suspected corruption,” EuroNews reported on Saturday. 

Kaili’s office was reportedly “sealed by Belgium police,” EuroNews said, along with those of” two Belgian socialist MEPs, Maria Arena and Marc Tarabella.”

Brussels is the de facto headquarters of the European Union, with much of the EU’s major institutions being present in that city. 

One of the more prominent left-wing groups in the EU, meanwhile, announced Kaili’s provisional expulsion from its ranks amid the investigation. 

The Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament “has taken the decision to suspend MEP Eva Kaili’s membership of the S&D Group with immediate effect, in response to the ongoing investigations,” the group said on Twitter.