Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Greece’s ex-EU commissioner says NGO in graft scandal paid him €60,000 last year

Greece’s ex-EU commissioner says NGO in graft scandal paid him €60,000 last year

Former migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos resigned from the ‘Fight Impunity’ group as soon as the scandal broke.
Greece’s former European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said Monday he was paid €60,000 between February 2021 and February 2022 by a nongovernmental organization at the heart of a snowballing corruption scandal in Brussels.

The NGO Fight Impunity was founded by ex-Italian MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri, who has been arrested and charged with corruption in a case hinging on whether Qatar and Morocco bought influence in the European Parliament.

“My involvement in ‘Fight Impunity’ was from the beginning completely without executive or management responsibilities,” the former commissioner said in a statement to the Greek state news agency AMNA, responding to reports in La Stampa and El Mundo.

Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, former French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, Italian Senator Emma Bonino and former MEP Cecilia Wikström were also all listed as members of an “Honorary Board” of Fight Impunity. So is MEP Isabel Santos. They’ve all quit the board in the wake of allegations against Panzeri.

Cazeneuve said he was not paid for his involvement and reiterated that he had no involvement in the NGO beyond accepting joining the honorary board. A representative for Mogherini said she also had received no payment.

The think tank was not listed in the official transparency register of lobbyists.

Avramopoulos said he received permission from the Independent Ethical Committee of the European Commission on December 10, 2020 to take up the position and received a declared honorarium between February 2021 and February 2022 of some €60,000. He said he received a monthly payment of €5,000, which was declared and taxed in Greece, in accordance with Greek law. His monthly net income was €3,750.

“In February 2022, because the activity of the organization had waned, I requested and stopped the compensation. From March onwards, my participation had effectively ended,” Avramopoulos said.

“As soon as I was informed of what happened recently in Brussels, I immediately and irrevocably tendered my resignation and asked for my name to be removed from the website, together with the other personalities who participated in the committee,” he added.

Avramopoulos — along with former Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, former Cypriot Commissioner Markos Kyprianou and former Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubiš — is one of the contenders for the post of the EU special representative for the Gulf region.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
×