Belgian prosecutors arrest suspects in Huawei bribery probe targeting EU Parliament

BRUSSELS — Belgian federal prosecutors on Thursday announced the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the European Parliament and the Chinese company Huawei, which is suspected of bribing EU lawmakers. European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier said the EU’s executive branch had no comment regarding the investigation but underlined the commission’s security concerns about Huawei and Europe’s fifth-generation mobile phone networks. “Huawei represents materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers.” EU member states should swiftly “adopt decisions to restrict or to exclude Huawei from their 5G networks,” Regnier said. “A lack of swift action would expose the EU as a whole to a clear risk.” The prosecutor’s office said it believes there was corruption “from 2021 to the present day” in various forms, “such as remuneration for taking political positions or excessive gifts such as food and travel expenses or regular invitations to football matches.” Prosecutors also believe payments might have been disguised as business expenses and in some cases may have been directed to third parties.