The European Parliament condemns the UAE again
The European Microscope for Middle East issues reported that the European Parliament took a new position on condemning the UAE amid expectations of more significant European pressure on Abu Dhabi.
The European Microscope, a European institution concerned with monitoring the issues of Middle Eastern referred to a report recently prepared by experts in the Human Rights Committee of the European Parliament on how the UAE interferes in the affairs of European countries through the formation of lobbies representing soft powers to influence European policy.
The report, presented by Nicola Giovannini, Executive Director of Droit au Droit, included interviews with dozens of current and former parliament members, diplomats, officials, academics, and journalists to explain the extent of the UAE’s pressure to exert on the institutions of the European Union.
According to the report, the UAE relies on soft power by creating pressure circles to paint a different picture of reality and persuade European policymakers to develop their policy, even though this contradicts European values, interests and human rights.
He also talks about how Dubai helped the Russian “rich class” to escape with their money to the Emirates, days after the espionage scandal through the Israeli Pegasus program.
The report explains how the “Emirati lobby” is launching campaigns led by the UAE Embassy in Brussels, the Parliamentary Friendship Group and a network of consultants to bring the European Union’s vision closer to the UAE’s foreign policy.
The report concluded that it is imperative to take serious steps to address the problem “so that European democracy does not remain vulnerable to the dangers of foreign interference”, in addition to “tightening the regulations for the registration of organizations and pressure groups operating in Brussels on behalf of foreign governments.”
Identical diplomatic sources said that the UAE ambassador in Brussels and its representative to the European Union, Muhammad Al-Sahlawi, collapsed after his abject failure to prevent the issuance of three European reports exposing Abu Dhabi’s conspiracies to influence the policies and democracy of the countries of the Union.
The sources told Emirates Leaks the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and the office of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed reprimanded Al-Sahlawi, which caused health complications due to severe hypoglycemia and nervous crisis.
The sources pointed out that Al-Sahlawi was seen collapsing in the corridors of the European Parliament on the tenth of May, shortly before a symposium that included the presentation of the three European reports.
According to the sources, Al-Sahlawi tried to prevent the symposium in all possible ways, including contacting the two human rights committees, foreign interventions in the European Parliament and mobilizing a lobby affiliated with him in Parliament, but to no avail.
The reports issued by experts in the European Parliament regarding the UAE’s attempts to influence the policies and democracy of the countries of the Union constituted a resounding scandal for Abu Dhabi and its lobby in Europe, mainly after it was circulated to all parliamentarians, officials and diplomatic missions in Brussels.
