The EU parliament will reconvene this week, but without its executive Vice President who’s been stripped of her duties – as a new corruption scandal with ties to Qatar has come to light.

The EU parliament will reconvene this week, but without its executive Vice President – stripped of her duties – as a new corruption scandal with ties to Qatar has come to light.

A Belgian judge charged four people over the weekend, who are alleged to be taking funds from Qatar.

Authorities seized €600,000 cash – and issued a statement saying they suspect that people with close ties to European political parties were paid large sums of money or offered substantial gifts to influence Parliament’s decisions.

Belgian authorities have not named the suspects, but the European parliament vice-president Eva Kaili has been stripped of her duties in the parliament and of her party membership in the Greek socialist party Pasok.

Last month she went on the record, defending Qatar’s human rights record and saying the nation was a frontrunner in labour rights.

Qatari officials are moving to distance themselves. They have rejected accusations of misconduct. And said any association of the Qatari government with the reported claims is baseless and misinformed.

Belgian authorities have called this a “major investigation”, with 17 house searches over the weekend.