Simon Van Dorpe

🧨 New revelation in the Pfizergate affair over Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen’s texts with the Pfizer CEO.

The European Commission admitted to the New York Times this week that it lost the texts only after I made an official request for them.

🧵

'We refuse to see them die': AFP addresses about journalists' risk of starvation in Gaza

AFP says its journalists are starving to death in Gaza

Podcast | Inside the Huawei corruption scandal that rocked Brussels The Huawei corruption scandal has cast a long shadow over Brussels. Several individuals have been charged over allegations that lobbyists for the Chinese tech giant bribed members of the European Pa...

FTM's new PODCAST is out!

Behind the scenes of the Huawei bribery scandal with the investigative journalists who unraveled the story: @simonvandorpe.bsky.social and @alexfanta.bsky.social

@ftm.eu

www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...

I had the same feeling with commentators who've been predicting the crash of the Chinese economy for decades

Chairman Trump is the red Sun in our hearts! With him, everything. Without him, nothing.

At @ftm.eu, we obviously hope the next 🇪🇺 budget will be more transparent, but the way @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu said it, was not entirely convincing

📣 The European Parliament wants EPPO candidate Peter Klement to lead European anti-fraud office OLAF. The order still needs to be endorsed by EU countries (should not be an obstacle, I’m told). The Commission will have the final say, but this order will be hard to ignore

🔥 NEWS from the Didier Reynders investigation ⤵️

U.S. gets sneak peek at Europe's military tech through CIA-backed fund Amid Donald Trump’s unpredictable and often adversarial approach to foreign policy, the EU is seeking greater military autonomy. But a CIA-backed venture fund is investing in dozens of European defenc...

As the EU pushes for military independence, the CIA is gaining quiet influence through its venture fund. The fund invests in European defence start-ups, not for profit, but for strategic insight. While Europe wants autonomy, U.S. intelligence is staying close to the action.

Central Europe is well represented in race to lead @euantifraud.bsky.social, with (in order of appearance) a Czech, a Polish and a Slovak candidate. Italian is most likely to drop as @euparliament.bsky.social and
@press.consilium.europa.eu bring list down to 3 candidates, we hear

‘This MEP is on my payroll’: Huawei lobbyist bragged about bribery in the office At a time when Huawei’s reputation hit a new low in Brussels, one man kept the doors to politicians open – until he was arrested for alleged bribery. Now, insiders tell Follow the Money that Huawei’s ...

‼️ In March, Huawei’s EU corruption scandal made headlines across the world. Today, @ftm.eu returns with an insiders’ perspective: ten former employees shared their experience with the tech giant’s Brussels office … and its rogue lobbyist. Read the full story for free today www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

🆕 The 4 candidates to become the new chief of EU antifraud office OLAF are Petr Klement (EPPO), Joanna Krzeminska-Vamvaka (EEAS, Former OLAF), Ladislav Hamran (Eurojust President until January) and Gabriele Failla (Guardia di Finanza). They will be heard by EU Parliament CONT committee on 14 July

‘This MEP is on my payroll’: Huawei lobbyist bragged about bribery in the office At a time when Huawei’s reputation hit a new low in Brussels, one man kept the doors to politicians open – until he was arrested for alleged bribery. Now, insiders tell Follow the Money that Huawei’s ...

To win back EU access, Huawei turned to a rogue lobbyist. Valerio Ottati secured high-level meetings – but his former colleagues long suspected he was rigging the game, by bribing officials and falsifying documents. Managers looked away, until police stepped in. www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

In his self-published memoirs, Rivellini, who chaired the Parliament’s delegation for relations with China, said he introduced Ottati to Zhong Rong, an aide to the Chinese EU ambassador. “Zhong was a great tennis fan and with Valerio Ottati, my assistant who was a professional player, he would play and take lessons,” Rivellini wrote. He added that he believed Zhong to be a “man of the secret services because of what I learned about him later”. Rivellini and the Chinese representation to the EU did not reply to requests for comment. Whether Ottati really was in touch with a Chinese intelligence operative is difficult to verify. But some clues remain. According to Chinese records, an official named Zhong Ronglai served as diplomat at the Chinese Mission to the European Union in 2011 and 2012 - around the same time Ottati worked as assistant with Rivellini. The Chinese mission did not reply to Follow the Money’s questions about Zhong Ronglai and his role in Brussels. Ottati later told his colleagues at Huawei that he had given tennis lessons to Chinese officials, two of these colleagues, who have in the meantime left the firm, said. When Belgian intelligence services were looking into Huawei, they specifically checked if the company's lobbyists who were previously employed by EU institutions had any ties with the Chinese government, Politico wrote in March 2023.

This is perhaps the most surprising, vexing find from our latest report about corruption allegations against #HuaweiGate in Brussels. The man at the centre of allegations is thought to have had a link to Chinese intelligence more than a decade ago.

‘This MEP is on my payroll’: Huawei lobbyist bragged about bribery in the office At a time when Huawei’s reputation hit a new low in Brussels, one man kept the doors to politicians open – until he was arrested for alleged bribery. Now, insiders tell Follow the Money that Huawei’s ...

‼️ In March, Huawei’s EU corruption scandal made headlines across the world. Today, @ftm.eu returns with an insiders’ perspective: ten former employees shared their experience with the tech giant’s Brussels office … and its rogue lobbyist. Read the full story for free today www.ftm.eu/articles/hua...

👀🇨🇳 Despite Viktor Orbán’s ban, Budapest Pride drew a record 100–200K in a city of 1.7M. Marchers defied threats, but new Chinese facial recognition tech was deployed—potentially enabling (up to) €500 fines for participants.

A police van with cameras was parked to record everyone passing by.

A former oil boss’ seat in the EU Parliament shielded him from prosecution. Now, his immunity may be stripped Polish MEP Daniel Obajtek has dodged prosecutors at every rung of his controversial career—factory manager, city mayor, state-oil boss, now Brussels back-bencher. On Tuesday, a key committee in the Eu...

From factory floor to oil giant to the EU Parliament: Polish far-right politician Daniel Obajtek has dodged prosecutions at every turn of his controversial career. Today, EU lawmakers debate whether to lift his immunity – and let him finally face criminal investigations back home.

On Qatargate and endless corruption cases Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

This week in Europe’s Dirty Collars: Qatargate drags on, US crypto risks spill into Europe, and the EU’s top anti-fraud job is up for grabs – under questionable procedures.

Subscribe for the latest on corruption, fraud, money laundering, and shady dealings across Europe: www.ftm.eu/newsletter

Similarly to a rule-of-law conditionality, EU Chief Prosecutor #LauraKövesi calls for a “judicial cooperation conditionality” with countries outside the EU “to cripple the financial power of organised criminal groups in Europe” #ABC2025

Ursula von der Leyen announces single European competitiveness fund “with simple rules and transparent procedures ... from AI to space, cleantech to biotech.” Horizon Europe will remain a self-standing programme, connected to this fund, she reassures lobbyists at annual EU budget conference

Loud music, silent takeovers: How private equity is reshaping Europe’s festival scene The American private equity firm KKR now owns many of Europe's biggest festivals. The billion-euro purchase by a fund with links to Donald Trump has raised fears of rising ticket prices, and questions...

Sónar, DGTL, Field Day… Many of Europe’s iconic festivals are now owned by an illustrious private equity firm. The billion-euro takeover is sparking fears of rising ticket prices – and doubts about whether the values these festivals claim to stand for can survive under corporate control.

Today's Pfizergate ruling is a landmark. The EU court clearly said that the Commission was wrong in its decision on the text messages between president Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. The decision can't be read other than as stern rebuke for the Commission.

Some key takeaways 🧵

BREAKING - Pfizergate ruling sees win for transparency - Judges rule that the Commission should not have misled @matinastevis.bsky.social about the existence of Ursula von der Leyen's text messages. More details forthcoming.

Trump on getting a free luxury plane from Qatar: "I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer."

📣 📣 Morgen bij deBuren ⤵️

Europe Uncovered #10 Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

This week in the Europe Uncovered newsletter:

A covert Russian sabotage campaign using disguised parcels;

the pharmacist behind the internet's biggest deepfake porn site;

how 'ethical' pensions may bankroll Israeli human rights abuses;

– and more 👇

www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Pfizergate case: ‘There will be very little transparency left once von der Leyen is done’ Next week, judges in Luxembourg will decide on the Pfizergate case into European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages with Pfizer's CEO. Will transparency prevail, and the texts f...

Next week, EU judges will rule on the Pfizergate scandal: did the secret texts between von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO vanish, or were they never meant to be seen? We spoke to legal scholar Päivi Leino-Sandberg: for her, this case is about more than texts. It’s a battle for transparency.

Interesting they put him under Paula Pinho. I wonder who is really calling the shots there

Hoe stoppen we de toename van buitenlandse inmenging in Brussel? • deBuren

Dinsdagavond in Brussel!

Qatar, Israel, de Chinezen, de Amerikanen.. Wie infiltreren er de EU en hoe trekken we de 'grens'?

Kom naar dit interessante panel met @thijsreuten.bsky.social, Lousewies van der Laan, Kenneth Lansoen & @simonvandorpe.bsky.social en praat mee 👇

deburen.eu/programma/bu...

New rules on note-taking not a minute too soon Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

10 years ago, police found strong evidence of bribery by a European Commission official. Today, he may still be receiving his EU salary. How? Read more in our newsletter ⤵️ www.ftm.eu/articles/bur...