While it has been recently alleged that Qatar has bribed several politicians in the West, newly disclosed information proves, oil rich Gulf countries have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars every year for buying top politicians in the European countries. Middle Eastern nations such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are not relying on illegal cash as bribes in suitcases, instead, they are setting up entirely legal charities and NGOs from which hundreds of thousands of dollars are passed to politicians.
A recent report published by Dutch newspaper NRC details how Poland’s former foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, who is currently an MEP, has been receiving US$100,000 per year from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), totaling US$500,000 over the past five years.
Radosław Sikorski has earned this huge sum of money by being a member of the Advisory Council to the Sir Bani Yas Forum, an exclusive conference that is part of the UAE’s soft power diplomacy and is closed to the media.
In light of the Qatargate bribery scandal, money flowing from oil-and-gas-rich Gulf countries into the pockets of EU politicians is being called into question, along with the various benefits and lobbying from a variety of countries within Europe’s institutions.
According to a report published in Polsat News, the ex-foreign minister of Poland has also travelled to the United Arab Emirates at the Gulf nation’s expense and has not declared this information in his financial disclosure to the European Parliament.
In his letter to NRC editors posted on Twitter, Radosław Sikorski argues that he had no obligation to report that travel, as it was not carried out in an official capacity. He also argued that he never made any secret of the fact that he was paid for being a member of the advisory council within the UAE’s forum and that he has paid his taxes in full on that income.
Sikorski says that the Sir Bani Yas Forum is a highly respected conference held in the Middle East and that the Advisory Council to the forum includes a former Australian prime minister, an ex-foreign secretary of Britain, and a former deputy of the secretary general of the United Nations.
He also refutes that his activities in the advisory council have in any way influenced the way he has been voting in the European Parliament. He points to the fact that on all matters relating to either the UAE or Saudi Arabia, he has always voted in line with positions taken by the European parliamentary caucus he is a member of, the European People’s Party (EPP).
My letter to the Editor of @NRC. pic.twitter.com/2oZXYuIgWR
— Radek Sikorski (@radeksikorski) February 9, 2023
The revelations about the MEP’s income have caused a storm in the media and in political circles in Poland. Senior leading Left MP Adrian Zandberg took to Twitter to criticize Sikorski.
“The UAE is an authoritarian state that does not respect freedom of speech and is embroiled in a dirty war in Yemen. Sikorski has in this way closed the door on being in a future government. A Polish minister cannot appear on such a payroll”, posted Zandberg.
Questions have been asked whether Donald Tusk, the leader of the opposition liberal Civic Platform (PO), knew about Sikorski’s involvement with the UAE. Sikorski was a foreign minister in a government led by Tusk and is an MEP elected on a Civic Platform ticket.
Nie wiem, jak można łączyć „walkę o demokrację” z braniem kasy od szejków. Emiraty to państwo autorytarne, nie uznające wolności słowa, uwikłane w brudną wojnę jemeńską
Pan europoseł zamknął sobie drogę do przyszłego rządu. Polski minister nie może widnieć na takiej liście płac https://t.co/Us1qrdTjAq
— Adrian Zandberg (@ZandbergRAZEM) February 9, 2023
Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has called for a full explanation of Sikorski’s involvement, especially now that foreign media have published the case. Sikorski has in the past few months also been under attack for some rather unguarded comments.
Sikorski made international headlines after the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up in a sabotage attack. After the pipelines were blown, Sikorski tweeted “Thank you USA”, implying the US was behind the attack.
During a radio interview, he also claimed that the Polish government had in the early days of the Ukraine war considered taking part in a partition of Ukraine.
Both of these statements were used by the Kremlin regarding claims that the US was responsible for the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines and that Poland was quietly attempting to seize Ukrainian land.
Sikorski is reported to have been attempting to lobby Donald Tusk for a place on the liberal’s list in the coming Polish parliamentary elections and is rumored to be interested in returning to his former post of foreign minister. Sikorski has also harbored ambitions to be an EU commissioner responsible for foreign policy or of being the head of NATO. He has also on two occasions attempted to become his party’s candidate for president of Poland.
