BRUSSELS — The European Parliament on Friday banned lobbyists working for Huawei from entering its premises following the arrests of several people in a corruption probe linked to the Chinese company.
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The European Parliament said on Friday that the decision to suspend the access of Huawei lobbyists has been taken as a precautionary measure, in line with its security rules.
Thursday’s arrests came as an investigation by Le Soir newspaper and other media revealed that lobbyists working for the Chinese telecoms giant were suspected of bribing current or former European Parliament members to promote the company’s commercial policies in Europe.
About 100 federal police officers carried out 21 searches in Brussels, the Flanders and Wallonia regions, and Portugal. The investigating magistrate in charge of the case also asked for seals to be placed on offices inside the EU Parliament allocated to two parliamentary assistants allegedly involved.