The European Parliament on Friday banned Huawei lobbyists from entering its premises, following allegations of bribery linked to the Chinese technology giant’s lobbying activities in Brussels.
A Parliament official told POLITICO the ban is temporary and would be in place at least until the authorities conclude their investigation.
The firm is at the heart of a new corruption scandal that involves “preliminary charges of active corruption, forgery of documents, money laundering” at the European Parliament, Belgian federal prosecutors said Thursday.
Huawei had nine people registered to enter Parliament’s premises when it last updated its entry in the Transparency Register in October.
The ban would affect Huawei’s lobbyists registered to enter Parliament’s premises. It applies to all the premises in Brussels, Strasbourg, Luxembourg and across the liaison offices the institution holds across EU countries.
Police on Thursday sealed two offices belonging to parliamentary assistants. Authorities have raided 21 addresses in Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and in Portugal, and several people have been arrested, prosecutors said.
A Parliament spokesperson and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Huawei spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment, but said in an earlier statement the firm “takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation.”
Elisa Braun contributed to the reporting.
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