Due to the "Huawei" scandal: Nikola Minchev Is Ready to Waive His Immunity as Member of the European Parliament

Belgian authorities have formally requested the European Parliament to lift the immunity of five Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) due to their alleged involvement in a corruption and influence-buying scandal linked to the Chinese tech giant Huawei. This was confirmed to BNT by the European Parliament on May 20.

These are five MEPs: three from the European People’s Party (EPP), one Socialist, and one member of Renew Europe — the latter being the Bulgarian MEP Nikola Minchev.

Authorities are investigating several MEPs and European Parliament staff for possible involvement in a criminal group engaged in active corruption, money laundering, and influence peddling benefiting Huawei. The federal prosecutor’s office has already charged eight individuals, whose names have not been publicly disclosed; however, some Belgian media report that a former assistant of Bulgarian MEP Nikola Minchev is among the accused.

The Prosecutor's office now seeks to lift the immunity of five MEPs: three Italians from the EPP, one Socialist from Malta, and Nikola Minchev from Renew Europe.

Nikola Minchev, MEP Renew Europe/We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria:

“This is related to the investigation, which is about my former assistant. The Belgian Prosecutor's Office has no specific charges against me, but wants to check if anything improper might have happened. This is in connection with a visit to a football match we attended following an invitation, which came through my assistant from a Huawei representative who subsequently turned out to be a key figure in the investigation. Because I was in the same place with this person, the Belgian prosecution wants to verify whether anything improper occurred. I will request my immunity be lifted as soon as possible to clear my name and demonstrate that I have no involvement in any illicit activity.”

A sitting of the European Parliament is scheduled for tomorrow, where President Roberta Metsola is expected to announce the request. The case will then be referred to the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, chaired by Ilhan Kyuchyuk. The committee will review the prosecutor’s request, propose hearings with the MEPs in question, and decide whether to recommend lifting their immunity. The entire process will take at least two months, with the final decision put to a vote in the plenary session of the European Parliament.