Eva Kaili

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Eva Kaili
Εύα Καϊλή
Kaili in 2014
Vice-President of the European Parliament
In office
18 January 2022 – 10 December 2022
Serving with See list
PresidentRoberta Metsola
Member of the European Parliament for Greece
Assumed office
28 May 2014
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
for Thessaloniki 1st District
In office
20 September 2009 – 9 May 2012
Personal details
Born (1978-10-26) 26 October 1978 (age 45)
Thessaloniki, Greece
Political partyPASOK (1992–2022)
Other political
affiliations		Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (2014–2022)
SpouseFrancesco Giorgi
Children1
Alma materAristotle University of Thessaloniki
ProfessionNewscaster, Politician[1]
Websitewww.evakaili.gr

Eva Kaili (Greek: Εύα Καϊλή; born 26 October 1978) is a Greek politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2014. She previously served as one of fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament between January and December 2022. Kaili is a former Member of the Hellenic Parliament and former television news presenter for Greek television channel MEGA Channel. [2][3]

Early life and education

Kaili studied architecture and civil engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.[4] Kaili continued her studies at the University of Piraeus where she obtained a Master of Arts degree in International and European affairs in 2008.[4] Since 2014 Kaili has been pursuing a PhD in International Economic Policy at the University of Piraeus but, as of 2022, is yet to complete her studies.[1]

Early career

Before her political career, Kaili was a well-known newscaster at Mega Channel from 2004 until 2007.[4]

Political career

In 1992, Kaili joined the PASOK Youth. In 2001, she was President of the School of Architecture Students' Association and by 2002, she was already the youngest member to be elected to the Thessaloniki City Council.

Member of the Hellenic Parliament

In the 2004 national elections, Kaili was the youngest candidate standing.[citation needed] In the 2007 national elections, she was elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament for the first district of Thessaloniki. At the time, she was the youngest Member of Parliament with the PASOK party.[5] She retained her seat in the 2009 national elections until 2012.

During her term in Parliament, Kaili served as a member of the following Parliamentary Committees: Standing Committee on Cultural and Educational Affairs, Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs, and Special Permanent Committee of Greeks Abroad. She was also a member of the Greek delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.[1]

Ahead of a crucial vote of confidence for Prime Minister, George Papandreou in November 2011. Kaili made headlines when she announced that she would refuse to support the government in the vote; this would have left Papandreou with the support of just 151 PASOK deputies out of 300.[6] She later backtracked and Papandreou won the vote of confidence with all 155 lawmakers of PASOK expressing their support for his beleaguered government.[7]

Member of the European Parliament

Eva Kaili has been Member of the European Parliament since 2014 and was a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group until her expulsion in 2022. Kaili now sits as an independent. She is Vice President for Innovation Strategy, ICT, Technology, Foresight, Businesses, ESG and CSR, UN, WTO, OECD and the Middle East. She was the first woman[8] to Chair of the European Parliament's Science and Technology Options Assessment body (STOA) 2017–2022.[4] She was also Chair of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (C4AI), and Chair of the Delegation for relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (DNAT) 2014–2019. She has been serving on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL). She is an alternate member on the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and on Delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula (DARP)[9] and was also involved in the Commission investigating the spy ware Pegasus (PEGA).[8]

In addition to her committee assignments, Kaili is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Cancer,[10] the European Parliament Intergroup on Disability, the Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (D-RU) and the Delegation for Relations with the United States of America (D-US).[11]

She was the recipient of a 2018 MEP Awards for New Technologies.[12]

Kaili became one of fourteen Vice Presidents of the European Parliament on 18 January 2022 after being elected on the first round by 454 votes. She was suspended from her vice-presidential duties on 10 December.[13]

Between 2019 and 2022, Kaili was the Head of the Hellenic S&D delegation until her expulsion from the party.

Corruption charges and arrest

Main article: Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament

On 9 December 2022, Kaili was arrested by Belgian Federal Police following an investigation into organized crime, corruption and money laundering tied to lobbying efforts in support of Qatar. A suitcase of cash was found with her father upon his arrest, and bags of cash were found at her home.[14] The same day she was suspended from both the Socialists and Democratic Group with which she sits in the European Parliament and her national party PASOK.[15] As part of the investigation, Belgian Police raided 16 homes and detained at least four others including former MEP Antonio Panzeri, Kaili's partner, and Parliamentary assistant to MEP Marie Arena, Francesco Giorgi, and Kaili's father who was on a train with a large amount of cash after being warned by an accomplice.[16][17] During the raids over €600,000 in cash was recovered by investigators.[18][19][20]

On 12 December 2022 the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority announced that it had frozen all assets of Kaili and her close family members. This included all bank accounts, safes, companies and other financial asset. Of particular interest to the authorities, according to the head of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, is a newly established real estate company in the Athens district of Kolonaki.[21][22]

The timing of the arrests coincided with the 2022 FIFA World Cup being hosted in Qatar. At the time, there was significant criticism of the hosts in the West, but during a speech at the European Parliament, Kaili praised the country's human rights record and criticised accusations of corruption made against Qatar.[23][24]

Personal life

Kaili is married to Italian Francesco Giorgi, who works as an assistant in the office of an Italian MEP, in the group of European Socialists. They have been in a relationship since 2020 and have entered into a cohabitation agreement. Together they have a two-year-old girl, Ariadni.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Curriculum vitae Eva Kaili". 25 April 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ Photograph of Eva Kaili[permanent dead link], Greece.
  3. ^ "Εύα Ευδοξία Καϊλή". www.evakaili.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d "Curriculum vitae | Eva KAILI | MEPs | European Parliament". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  5. ^ Weisenthal, Joe. "One-On-One With Eva Kaili, The Most Popular Greek Politician In The World". Business Insider. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ^ Dina Kyriakidou and Lefteris Papadimas (3 November 2011), Greek prime minister faces knife-edge survival vote Archived 18 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  7. ^ Rachel Donadio (4 November 2011), Greek Leader Survives Vote, Bolstering Deal on Europe Debt Archived 20 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b "Eva Kaili". RegHorizon. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Home | Eva KAILI | MEPs | European Parliament". Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  10. ^ Intergroup Archived 3 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC).
  11. ^ Members of the Disability Intergroup - S&D Archived 12 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine European Disability Forum.
  12. ^ "Eva Kaili wins MEP of the year award in Brussels". Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Greek MEP stripped of vice president powers over graft probe". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Cash found in MEP Kaili's Brussels home: reports". Kathimerini. 10 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Eva Kaili: Senior EU lawmaker arrested over alleged bribery by Gulf state". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Belgium makes EU parliament arrests in Qatar corruption probe". France24. 9 December 2022.
  17. ^ Tidey, Alice; Brezar, Aleksandar (9 December 2022). "European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili brought in for questioning in Brussels corruption probe". Euronews.
  18. ^ Coulart, Louis; Matriche, Joël; Clerix, Kristof (9 December 2022). "Soupçons de corruption par le Qatar: la vice-présidente du Parlement européen Eva Kaili interpellée". Le Soir.
  19. ^ Wheaton, Sarah; Camut, Nicolas (9 December 2022). "Belgian police raid homes over Qatar lobbying at EU Parliament". Politico Europe.
  20. ^ Balboni, Julien (9 December 2022). "Des sacs d'argent liquide trouvés au domicile de la vice-présidente du Parlement européen". L'Echo.
  21. ^ "Corruption au Parlement européen: Athènes gèle tous les avoirs de la vice-présidente Eva Kaili écrouée". Le Soir. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Qatar Gate Greece FReezes assets eva kaili". Greek Reporter. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  23. ^ Sotiri Dimpinoudis [@sotiridi] (9 December 2022). "Here is European Parliament Eva Kaili, saying 2 weeks ago that #Qatar "is a pioneer in labor rights, diplomacy, inteligent high educated" country, now i know why she said those things in front of the stage at the Europe Parlaiment building" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ Knight, Sam (3 December 2022). "At Qatar's World Cup, Where Politics and Pleasure Collide". The New Yorker.
  25. ^ "Who is the husband of Eva Kaili who was arrested?". Hellas Posts English. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Eva Kaili: Who is her Italian husband, Francesco Giorgi, who…". Hellas Posts English. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eva_Kaili&oldid=1127060457"