Prominent MEP contacts European Commission over Cyprus corruption video

Sandro Gozi, the secretary-general of the EDP, one of the centrist groups in the European parliament, on Tuesday said that he had penned a letter to the European Commission over a video which was widely shared on social media last week which alleged campaign finance violations on the part of Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates.

“The leaked video in Cyprus raises extremely serious allegations: illegal campaign financing, political favours, and attempts to interfere with European Union decisions,” he said.

He added that the video “explicitly refers to efforts to keep Russian businessman Andrei Kosogov off the EU sanctions list and to a pharmaceutical company linked to oligarchs [Mikhail] Fridman and [Petr] Aven, which allegedly donated €75,000 following political intervention”.

He described the matter as “a scandal involving the top levels of the Cypriot government”.

In his letter to the commission, he wrote that “recent public revelations … have raised serious allegations of influence peddling, links between foreign investments and financial contributions, as well as possible intervention in Cyprus’ position at the EU level regarding the union’s sanctions regime against Russian nationals”.

As such, he wrote, he wished to ask which position Cyprus took during discussions on the possible inclusion of Kosogov on the sanctions list and “whether representations were made in his favour” by Cypriot representatives.

He also asked whether the commission intends “to examine whether these alleged events may have undermined the integrity, unity, and credibility of the EU’s sanctions regime”, and whether it intends to “take measures” to “ensure that Cypriot procedures concerning foreign investments fully comply with EU law … and are free from any political interference or conflicts of interest”.

The EDP is one of three parties which form the Renew Europe centrist group in the European parliament. In Cyprus, Alma, the party founded by dismissed former auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides, is a member. Dipa is a member of Renew Europe but is not a member of the EDP, instead forming a part of Alde, one of the other three parties.