International

A report from Transparency International (TI) published today reveals that the incidence of corruption is rising throughout the EU. In its report the anti-corruption watchdog draws a direct link between corruption and the Eurocrisis. According to TI corruption is both a cause of the crisis and a barrier to any solution. ‘This worrying development calls for immediate action,’ says SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong. ‘That’s why I’m going to Transparency International’s annual conference with new proposals to address bribery of foreign state officials by European corporations.’

SP Member of Parliament Harry van Bommel has welcomed Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal’s promise to present the case in the EU Council of Ministers for a postponement of the closure of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants to clear out the camp’s inhabitants, many of them member of the Iranian group the Mujahidin Khalk, and intends to close the facility by January 1st, 2012. ‘Foreign Minister Rosenthal has promised to present the case at European level for more time to be allowed to find a solution for the inhabitants of Camp Ashraf,’ says Van Bommel.