Belgian detectives and officials from the Thüringer criminal investigation department carried out a house search yesterday at the headquarters of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest parliamentary group of the EU, in Brussels. The background is probably the ongoing corruption proceedings against the Thuringian CDU state chairman Mario Voigt in connection with the 2019 EU election campaign.
Belgian and German police officers have been searching the first and third floors of the party headquarters since Tuesday morning. It concerns alleged corruption during the 2019 EU election campaign. Several computers have been seized.
CDU man in sight
According to the public prosecutor’s office in Erfurt, the Belgian detectives provided legal assistance to the German authorities during the raid: they are investigating the Thüringer CDU party and party leader Mario Voigt. Investigators were looking for information about Voigt’s activities in the 2019 European election campaign, Erfurt prosecutor’s office spokesman Hannes Grünseisen said.
The point is to establish what influence the suspect had on the award of an order to a company in Jena, according to Grünseisen. Voigt is suspected of receiving something from this company after the company was instructed to run an EVP online election campaign. The public prosecutor has been investigating Voigt for several months on suspicion of corruption in commercial transactions.
People’s Party wants to cooperate
In the afternoon, the European People’s Party confirmed the raid. The search is related to investigations in Thuringia. The party emphasizes in a statement that they are cooperating “in full transparency” with the authorities and will make available all relevant information and documents. As the investigation is ongoing, no further comments will be made.
Voigt has denied all allegations related to the investigation. At the request of the Erfurt public prosecutor’s office, the Thuringian state parliament lifted Voigt’s immunity as a member of parliament in September 2022. In mid-October, several buildings belonging to the CDU politician were searched by the investigative authorities and evidence was secured.
Source: Krone
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