Slovenian MEP Thaler Denies Bribery Allegations

Zoran Thaler | Photo by EP

The European Parliament is opening an investigation into allegations made in a British newspaper that the Slovenian MEP Thaler, the Parliament's rapporteur for Macedonia, as well as an Austrian and Romanian MEP, proposed amendments in exchange for money.

“The parliament is going to investigate this carefully to find out what exactly happened,” European Parliament spokesperson Jaume Duch told Balkan Insight.

The British Sunday Times alleged that Thaler, Ernst Strasser and Adrian Severin agreed to propose amendments to legislation in exchange for up to 100,000 euros from undercover reporters posing as lobbyists.

All three men have denied wrongdoing.

Thaler, a former Slovenian foreign minister, rebuffed the claims, saying he knew he was being set up.
 
"From the very beginning of the immoral offer in December 2010, I knew that it was manipulation, an attempt to compromise and discredit a member of the European Parliament," he wrote in a statement on his website.
 
He accused the Sunday Times of Euroscepticism, saying that it is "well-known for its anti-EU editorial policy".

The Slovenian MEP said he had resigned on Monday to "enable an investigation of all facts and circumstances of this attempt to compromise my name".

Thaler hit headlines in Macedonia recently for his vocal concerns about freedom of the press in the country, which has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months.

Austria’s Ernst Strasser and Romania’s Adrian Severin also rebuffed accusations against them.

Strasser, a former interior minister and MEP for the Austrian People’s Party, announced his resignation when the report was published on Sunday, though he insists that he is innocent. He said he resigned to protect his party.

Severin, who is former Romanian deputy prime minister, said that he knew he was being framed and that he “did nothing illegal”.

Journalists from the Sunday Times contacted some 60 MEPS during their undercover investigation, claiming to be working for a lobbying company. The reporters asked the MEPs to propose amendments in the European Parliament with the understanding that they would be paid in exchange.