Dimitris Avramopoulos stated on SKAI Radio that he had rejected Qatar for visa-free travel, attributing Panzeri’s pressure to the European Parliament rather than the European Commission.

Avramopoulos on Qatargate – What he said about Panzeri

Dimitris Avramopoulos, speaking on Aris Portosalte’s show on SKAI radio, referred to the Qatargate case and the procedures for reviewing countries’ requests to exempt their citizens from the visa requirement.

As he noted, many countries submit such requests to the European Union, which are reviewed by the relevant European Commission. According to him, when Qatar’s request was under review, as the commissioner in charge, he sent a document rejecting the prospect of its approval.

“I sent a document to Qatar at the time and told them, ‘Gentlemen, you cannot get this…’ and that was the end of the matter,” he noted.

The former commissioner also claimed that the case was reopened for review by the new European Commission, which took over after the Juncker and was the one that ultimately issued the relevant decision.

Referring to Antonio Panzeri, he noted that “he had assembled his own circle” and attempted to exert influence, clarifying, however, that this did not concern the European Commission. In response to a related question from Aris Portosalte about where this pressure was being exerted, the answer was that the target was the European Parliament.