The EU’s antifraud watchdog said it has passed on to prosecutors allegations of potential corruption at the European Economic and Social Committee, a Brussels-based body that advises the EU on proposed legislation and policy. OLAF, the antifraud office, received a report from whistleblowers earlier this year saying there was a conflict of interest in the management of funds at the EESC, which is financed by the EU. It has now passed the case to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. OLAF’s press office told POLITICO it had sent the case to EPPO but added that it could not comment further. The EPPO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “The EESC was informed by OLAF yesterday that this case has been transmitted to the EPPO,” an EESC spokesperson told POLITICO. “Under these circumstances, the EESC cannot comment further except to re-confirm that when these matters first arose, the EESC president immediately and proactively referred the allegations to OLAF. The EESC will continue to respect fully the independence of this process.” Séamus Boland of Ireland was elected president in October 2025. “The EESC and its senior leadership take this matter very seriously and remain fully committed to integrity, transparency and accountability,” the spokesperson added. The EPPO has significantly stronger enforcement powers than OLAF. Whereas OLAF conducts administrative investigations, the EPPO investigates crimes against the financial interests of the EU, and can search private homes or seize evidence. OLAF has also been investigating a report that EESC executives tried to smoke out a staff whistleblower who raised the alarm about the funding concerns, the EU Ombudsman told POLITICO. Anonymous letters, seen by POLITICO, say that IT workers at the EESC were asked by senior managers to identify which staffers had connected to the OLAF website in previous weeks. The EESC said those anonymous letters contained “serious personal threats” and added that they were not made through the EESC’s “robust formal whistleblower process.”

During the Republican Party’s “midterm convention” last month, GOP leaders argued that a Democratic victory in November would cause a Marxist takeover of America. “It’s going to be a communist country if they win,” President Donald Trump said from the stage—one of more than 60 reported references to the red menace made by speakers at the Dallas event. But backstage, top Republicans were feting an actual ex-communist. Sali Berisha, an octogenarian leader of Albania’s opposition party, posted pictures of himself with Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward; former DOJ pardon attorney Ed Martin; Medicare and Medicaid administrator Mehmet Oz; Republican National Committee chair Joe Gruters; Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford; Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers; and conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, among others. Berisha—who began his career as a member of the Balkan state’s communist party under the regime of repressive Stalinist dictator Enver Hoxha—wasn’t alone. He posed with the GOP dignitaries alongside Fatmir Mediu, a former Albanian defense minister who has built close ties to Republicans including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Berisha also posed with in Dallas. > Me Ken Paxton, Prokurorin e Përgjithshëm të Texasit dhe kandidatin republikan > për Senatin e Shteteve të Bashkuara. pic.twitter.com/E4uK94SDuc > > — Sali Berisha (@saliberisha_) September 10, 2026 These interactions were notable in part because the US State Department, during the Biden presidency in 2021, designated Berisha a “persona non grata” due to “his involvement in significant corruption.” Berisha faces criminal charges in Albania over those allegations. At the time, the department had barred Berisha from entering the United States. But a few months ago, the Trump administration reversed course, granting him a visa waiver that allowed him to travel to the convention. In posts on X, Berisha characterized his backstage confabs in Dallas as important meetings in which he alleged that his chief political foe, Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama, is a corrupt beneficiary of Albanian drug smuggling. Rama denies those allegations. “We presented to the senior officials of President Trump’s administration and Congress the truth about the narcostate in Albania,” Berisha posted in Albanian. “The consequences for the economy and the demographic blow from Rama’s regime must come to an end.” Berisha asserted that his interaction with Blanche and Woodward was no mere photo op, but “an important meeting for Albania-US relations.” > Në Konventën Republikane në Dallas, së bashku me z. Fatmir Mediu, pata nderin > të takoja Prokurorin e Përgjithshëm të SHBA, Todd Blanche, dhe Zv. Prokurorin > e Përgjithshëm, Stanley Woodward Jr. Një takim i rëndësishëm për marrëdhëniet > Shqipëri–SHBA. pic.twitter.com/f7S5tpLZsk > > — Sali Berisha (@saliberisha_) September 11, 2026 It remains unclear what exactly Berisha was doing in Dallas. The Justice Department did not respond to questions about his meeting with Blanche. Spokespersons for the Republican National Committee and for Berisha’s political party, the Democratic Party of Albania, didn’t respond to questions either. And Republicans involved in organizing the event did not respond to questions about how Berisha’s attendance was arranged. The midterm convention was, in effect, a Republican fundraiser, with attendees asked to pony up thousands of dollars just to get in the door. Prices varied by state, but an invitation sent by the California GOP showed a price tag of $5,000 just for a balcony seat, with a tiered system in which the top level, “Golden VIP Access,” cost $250,000. A person who attended the convention told Mother Jones that the Florida GOP initially asked for a minimum contribution of $20,000 for tickets to the event before reducing the price tag to around $2,000 amid a lack of demand. California and Florida Republicans did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Berisha traveled to Dallas at the invitation of the International Democracy Union, an alliance of right-leaning political parties. In a letter, which Albanian news outlets reported on, the group described Berisha as part of a delegation. But it’s not clear if anyone besides the Albanian officials traveled to the US as part of the group. The International Democracy Union did not respond to inquiries. Berisha’s photographs with Republican officials suggest a high level of access, according to the person who attended the event. It is illegal for foreign nationals to donate to US political campaigns. And the visit has raised questions from Berisha critics, including among Albanian Americans, about who helped Berisha gain entree to the officials. “How’d Berisha get in there?” asked Gary Kokalari, president of Albanians for a Democratic Albania, an American group that advocates against corruption in the Balkan state, in an interview with Mother Jones. Ahead of last year’s May parliamentary election in Albania, Berisha’s party hired Chris LaCivita, co-manager of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Berisha’s party also hired Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster, and Paul Manafort—who helped run Trump’s 2016 campaign and was later convicted of violating foreign lobbying laws—as electoral advisers. In public appearances in Tirana, Albania’s capital, though, LaCivita worked to link Berisha to Trump. “We want to help elect a prime minister who is a true friend of the United States and who will successfully work with President Trump and the United States,” he said in one appearance. The Democratic Party of Albania reported paying LaCivita’s firm, Advancing Strategies, more than $1.6 million for his work there. LaCivita, who helped organize the Dallas event, has said that his work for Berisha was limited to electoral advice in Albanian domestic politics and that he has not lobbied the US government on behalf of Berisha. LaCivita told Mother Jones this week that he had “no involvement” in Berisha’s presence at the midterm convention, adding that he is “no longer involved” with Berisha’s Democratic Party of Albania. LaCivita declined to say whether he met with Berisha during the event. LaCivita is already under scrutiny over his work for another Balkan politician. Early this month, LaCivita and James Blair, both of whom work for the Trump-controlled super PAC MAGA Inc., traveled to a semi-autonomous Serbian enclave in Bosnia and Herzegovina to advise the Bosnia Serb party of Milorad Dodik ahead of an election there, the New York Times reported. Dodik is a nationalist who has denied international findings that Serbs engaged in genocide against Bosnians during that country’s civil war. He has also faced US sanctions over his push for the Republika Srpska to secede from Bosnia, in defiance of the US-brokered Dayton Accords of 1995 that created Bosnia’s complex government. LaCivita and Blair faced criticism from Republicans because their work for Dodik appeared to interrupt their work supporting GOP candidates ahead of the US midterms. Trump last week threatened to “terminate” LaCivita and Blair if their outside work created a “conflict.” Dodik’s government has employed an array of Trump-linked lobbyists, who last year succeeded in winning removal of sanctions on the Bosnian Serb leader. Berisha has pursued a similar plan. The Democratic Party of Albania employs Continental Strategy LLP, a firm that includes a former top aide to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the daughter of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, to lobby for the removal of Berisha’s State Department designation. Continental’s Justice Department filings have noted extensive contacts with the State Department, including with Dan Holler, a longtime Rubio aide who works as counselor in the department. Berisha denies corruption charges, and Continental has asserted that the Albanian leader was a victim of a politicized sanction process that constituted the kind of “weaponization” Trump himself claims to have faced. Continental said it has been paid $750,000 for this work. The payments came through a murky arrangement involving an organization called the “Make Albania Great Again Foundation”—which was established by a New Jersey contractor at a suburban residential address last year around the time the lobbying contract began, picked up the tab. A spokesperson for Continental did not answer questions this week about the origin of funds but said that the firm had “filed all appropriate paperwork and complied with all requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.” The spokesperson said that Continental “played no role” in Berisha’s visit to Dallas. Continental’s lobbying appeared to bear fruit this summer when the State Department issued the waiver that allowed Berisha to travel to the United States for the GOP convention. While Berisha has said the waiver resolved his US designation, the State Department has not confirmed that. The department has not taken down its 2021 designation of Berisha, which said he was designated due “corrupt acts, such as misappropriation of public funds and interfering with public processes, including using his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members at the expense of the Albanian public’s confidence in their government institutions and public officials.” The State Department did not answer questions about the status of Berisha’s persona non grata designation. These allegations continue to complicate Berisha’s political plans. He still faces charges in Albania alleging that he corruptly helped his son-in-law privatize public land to build apartment complexes in Tirana, Albania’s capital. Berisha, who denies those charges, also faces a ban on traveling to the United Kingdom. The new US Ambassador to Albania, Eric Wendt, recently declined to meet with Berisha, in what Albanian media outlets have described as a pointed snub. Berisha is a political survivor who has staved off challenges to his control of Albania’s opposition and still hopes replace Rama, who appears politically weakened by widespread protests in Tirana—demonstrations prompted in part by Rama’s approval of a luxury resort being developed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Albania’s coast. While the Tirana protests against Rama have been characterized as anti-Trump, Berisha continues to tout his own ties to the US president. And he clearly regards his Dallas visit—and his photos with high-level Trump administration officials—as a valuable assets in the effort.

MADRID — Spain’s conservatives hope a trio of impending regional elections will collapse the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the EU’s only remaining heavyweight national leader from the center left. First up this Sunday is the northeastern region of Aragón, dubbed the “Spanish Ohio” thanks to its track record as a barometer of the national mood. The center-right People’s Party (PP) appears to be heading for victory, but a surging far right is likely to make the biggest gains. Aragón will be followed by two more elections in PP-held regions — Castilla y León in March and Andalusia in June. For the conservatives, the goal is to seize on the corruption scandals in the Socialist party, which have severely weakened Sánchez, to confirm the PP’s regional dominance and dial up pressure on the government in Madrid. Speaking to supporters on the campaign trail in the town of Calatayud, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the PP, called on Aragón’s voters “to be the spokespeople of all Spaniards on Sunday at the ballot box.” “Friends, vote to stop the lies, to stop the corruption, to stop the arrogance and to stop the discredit into which national politics has fallen,” he said. Oriol Bartomeus, a political scientist at Barcelona’s Autonomous University, said the key across these regional elections was to build momentum at the national level. “The [PP’s] intention is to convert all these elections into a national story,” he said. “If the PP wins and the Socialists suffer a bad defeat, that will be used to say that Sánchez must step down because his party is in freefall.” PILING ON THE PRESSURE Sánchez’s coalition is already on the ropes following a storm of scandals. Probes into a kickback scheme implicating two former senior Socialists, as well as sexual harassment allegations concerning other figures in the party, have been hogging headlines in recent months. An ongoing investigation into the business dealings of Sánchez’s wife and the upcoming trial of his brother on charges of influence peddling have given the opposition further ammunition. Meanwhile, two January train crashes that killed a combined 47 people and triggered rail chaos in some parts of Spain have added to the government’s woes. A ballot held in the western region of Extremadura in December handed the PP electoral momentum: The party made modest gains while the Socialists lost 10 of their 28 seats. The Aragón election is a snap ballot called by regional president Jorge Azcón amid a parliamentary impasse that followed a decision by the far-right Vox to withdraw support for the conservatives. “Friends, vote to stop the lies, to stop the corruption, to stop the arrogance and to stop the discredit into which national politics has fallen,” Alberto Núñez Feijóo said. | ZIPI/EPA Polls suggest Aragón is heading for a similar result to Extremadura, with the PP clearly ahead and possibly making slight gains. The Socialists, meanwhile, are left hoping to avoid their worst-ever result in the region. Polls have the PP on track to win about 28 seats in the 67-seat assembly, with Vox taking 12 to 14 and the Socialists 17 or 18. In every general election since the country’s return to democracy in 1977, the winning party in Aragón has been the national overall victor, earning it the “Spanish Ohio” nickname — although analysts say its capital Zaragoza and the province that surrounds it currently provide a more reliable measure of the national vote. With a surface area slightly greater than that of Switzerland, the region borders Catalonia to the east and France to the north, encompassing vast rural areas. But it has also developed a reputation as a technological hub, and Zaragoza is Spain’s fifth-largest city. WARNINGS ABOUT VOX The Socialists have also given the election a national dimension by deploying the former minister of education, training and sport, Pilar Alegría, as their candidate. The warning from the Socialists is that Vox — which triggered the regional election in a clash with the PP over the acceptance of unaccompanied migrant children — could still ultimately agree to form a majority with the PP after extracting concessions. The Aragón election is a snap ballot called by regional president Jorge Azcón amid a parliamentary impasse that followed a decision by the far-right Vox to withdraw support for the conservatives. | Chema Moya/EPA Prime Minister Sánchez has campaigned alongside Alegría, urging voters to mobilize against the prospect of a consolidated PP-Vox majority, which he casts as part of an international radical right-wing tide. “The question we have to ask ourselves here in Aragón is: What you don’t want for the rest of the world, do you want that for Europe, for Spain and for Aragón?” the prime minister said at a campaign rally in the city of Teruel. He condemned the “misogyny and hate” of Vox, which he warned could form part of a coalition with the PP if they secured a majority. Tomás Guitarte, the leading candidate for Aragón Exists, which seeks to represent voters in rural areas, said such debates have distracted from more pressing concerns. “Sixty percent of the population of Aragón lives in two percent of its territory, while the rest are suffering serious problems related to depopulation,” he told POLITICO.  “They should be talking about this but instead the national leaders come here and turn the campaign into a national debate, focused on what concerns them in Madrid more than the real concerns of Aragón,” he said. Guitarte also pointed to housing as a serious concern for voters. Describing itself as cutting across party lines, Aragón Existe presents itself as a potential coalition partner for the PP, which is unlikely to secure an outright majority. However, Vox is likely to be the PP’s only viable partner and the one set to make the most substantial gains. The national conservative party has been courting the region’s farming sector with attacks on EU agricultural policy while condemning the central government’s willingness to welcome migrants. Polls show Vox could come close to doubling its seven seats, echoing its strong performance in national polls. The Socialists have also given the election a national dimension by deploying the former minister of education, training and sport, Pilar Alegría, as their candidate. | Mariscal/EPA Bartomeus said the PP was struggling to fend off the electoral threat posed by Vox, which divides the right. “The more Vox’s support increases, the worse the PP will perform,” he said. “The PP doesn’t go up substantially because part of its voter base is going to Vox.” Political analysts don’t generally believe the Aragón result alone could force Sánchez to bring forward the general election, scheduled for 2027. But the cumulative effect of defeats there, in Castilla y León and, above all, in the former Socialist stronghold of Andalusia could make it very hard for Sánchez to hang on.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Friday announced an investigation into Slovakia over the dismantling of its whistleblower protection office. In its latest rule-of-law spat with Bratislava, the EU executive criticized leftist-populist leader Robert Fico for trying to replace the office with a new institution whose leadership would be politically appointed. “The Commission considers that this law breaches EU rules,” it wrote in an official note on Friday. Brussels’ move comes amid strong pressure from lawmakers and NGOs to act against Fico’s crackdown against independent institutions and suspected fraud involving EU farm funds. Zuzana Dlugošová, the head of the whistleblower protection office, said that she had repeatedly warned Slovak officials that the plans were in contradiction with EU law. “If expert feedback had been taken into account, Slovakia could have avoided EU infringement proceedings. Still, we believe that this process itself can help foster a more professional and substantive debate on how whistleblower protection should be properly set up in Slovakia,” Dlugošová said. Slovakia’s permanent representation in Brussels and interior ministry did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment. Brussels has given Bratislava one month to respond to its queries before taking further action — which could potentially include cutting EU payouts to Slovakia after a multi-layered process. Since returning to power in 2023 for a fourth term, Fico’s Smer party has taken steps to dismantle anti-corruption institutions, including abolishing the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which handled high-profile corruption cases, and disbanding NAKA, an elite police unit tasked with fighting organized crime. “The European Commission’s decision … sends a clear message: protecting whistleblowers is not optional — it is a core obligation of every EU Member State,” Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský said in written remarks to POLITICO. Before launching the probe, the EU executive had pressed Slovakia to roll back on its anti-democratic crackdown. EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin encouraged Fico not to dismantle the whistleblower protection office during a meeting in Bratislava in December, according to two Commission officials with knowledge of proceedings who were not authorized to go on the record. Nevertheless, in December 2025, the Slovak parliament pushed through a bill that cut short the current director’s tenure and weakened protections for whistleblowers. It was set to enter into force in on Jan. 1 but Slovakia’s top court paused the disputed decision to review whether it complies with the constitution. German Green MEP Daniel Freund welcomed the Commission’s move but urged it to go even further. “The Commission needs to do more. Fico’s government has dismantled the special prosecutor for corruption, has dismantled the national crime agency and has changed the penal code to have hundreds of convicted corruption offenders walk free,” Freund told POLITICO. Slovakia is already subject to another infringement procedure, launched by the Commission in November, over a reform that enshrines only two genders in the constitution.

BRUSSELS — Senior European Commission officials hardly ever get the sack. On Thursday, one did. That was the twist in a tale that up until that moment had been classically Brussels. The protagonist: A little-known bureaucrat who had spent two decades working in the EU civil service. The allegations: Taking expensive gifts that aroused suspicions over conflicts of interest. “After nearly 22 years at the Commission, I am obviously disappointed,” Henrik Hololei told POLITICO only hours after he was informed of the decision. “But I’m happy that this long process has finally come to a conclusion.” While commissioners, the EU’s 27 political appointees, have been known to fall on their swords, there are few precedents for the dismissal of such a high-ranking civil servant, two senior officials familiar with the inner workings of the Commission said. Neither of the officials, who have several decades of EU experience between them, could remember any previous examples. Like other people interviewed for this article, they were granted anonymity so they could speak freely about Hololei and his downfall. The “long process” Hololei described totaled three years. It was in 2023 that POLITICO first revealed that the Estonian, who was then the EU’s top transport official, had accepted free flights from Qatar at the same time as negotiating a transport deal with the Gulf state that was beneficial to the country’s airline.   It couldn’t have come at a more inauspicious time. The initial reports emerged just a few months after the so-called Qatargate corruption scandal in the European Parliament, named after one of the countries linked to allegedly offering cash and gifts in return for favors. Hololei was not involved in that affair, but it added fuel to the argument from politicians and transparency campaigners that the EU needed to clean up its act. He resigned from his job within a month but didn’t leave the Commission. Soon after, he became special adviser in its international partnership division. The following year, French newspaper Libération reported additional allegations, including that he exchanged confidential details of the Qatar aviation deal in return for gifts for himself and others, including stays in a five-star hotel in Doha. This led to a probe by the EU’s Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which in turn led to the Commission’s investigation. On Thursday, the Commission announced that a senior official had breached the EU institution’s rules. These concerned conflicts of interest, gift acceptance and disclosures, according to three officials with knowledge of the investigation. They later confirmed the person in question was Hololei. ‘A LEGEND’ By his own admission, Hololei is a colorful character. Belying the clichéd image of a faceless bureaucrat, he’s known to do business over a drink or two. Michael O’Leary, the outspoken CEO of Irish airline Ryanair, who shared the occasional tipple with him, told POLITICO in 2023 that Hololei was “terrific.” His colleagues are just as glowing. On Thursday, a lower-ranking official who worked with him at the Commission described him as a “legend,” while a former transport lobbyist recalled seeing selfies of him holding up beers with industry representatives. “The feeling is they’re making an example of him,” said a person who works in the aviation field and met him during the course of his work. “He was undoubtedly passionate and determined to make EU transport better. He was a guy who just enjoyed the position he had. He was a people person.” Hololei talks to Czech Transport Minister Martin Kupka at the European Transport Ministerial Meeting in Prague in 2022. Colleagues and industry figures might mourn the departure of a gregarious, engaging figure, | Martin Divisek/EPA What ultimately led to his dismissal was an investigation by IDOC, the Commission’s internal disciplinary body, the result of which is not public.  IDOC’s conclusions were shared with a disciplinary committee made up of staffers who have equal or superior rank to Hololei — a relatively small pool given his seniority. Following a series of interviews with Hololei, the committee sent its recommendation to the College of Commissioners for a final vote. That decision was taken in the past few days.  ‘LONG OVERDUE’ While colleagues and those in the industry might mourn the departure of a gregarious, engaging figure, European propriety campaigners are less sympathetic. “It’s almost three years to the day since revelations of Mr. Hololei’s impropriety broke,” said Shari Hinds, senior policy officer at Transparency International, an accountability-focused NGO. “Though long overdue, it is encouraging that the European Commission finally appears to be dealing out consequences proportionate to the gravity of these ethics violations.” Hololei, 55, who had taken a pay cut when he moved to the role of hors classe adviser from DG MOVE, as the transport department is known, will receive his pension from the Commission when he reaches retirement age. He has three months to lodge a complaint against the decision with the Commission. “Good to see there is an actual reaction,” said Daniel Freund, a Green member of the European Parliament, who campaigns on issues of accountability in the EU institutions. “So far, so good.” ‘MUCH MISSED’ A decade in Estonian politics — where he largely focused on European affairs — preceded his time at the Commission, starting in the cabinet of then-Estonian Commissioner Siim Kallas, the father of current EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, before moving into transport. It was in that role he became a “very much-loved boss,” according to the person who worked with him. “Even now he is still very much missed in DG MOVE. He was a good person to be around.” In the comments Hololei gave to POLITICO on Thursday afternoon, he was as gracious as so often described by those who know him. But in the end, the personality traits that endeared him to so many he worked with, in the Commission and in industry, weren’t enough to save his job.

A drugmaker named in an alleged corruption scandal in Cyprus has denied making any political donations to the country’s president to protect a Russian businessman from EU sanctions. Cyprus has been plunged into political turmoil just as it assumed the leadership of the Council of the EU, a role which is crucial to the bloc’s political functioning. It is now having to defend itself against allegations senior officials accepted cash to help companies avoid sanctions as well as to bypass campaign spending caps. In a video released on X last week, Cypriot former energy minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis is apparently seen claiming that Remedica, a Limassol-based generics firm, had paid €75,000 to President Nikos Christodoulides so that he would speak in support of Andrei Kosogov. Kosogov is a co-founder of LetterOne, Remedica’s parent company. Two other Russian businessmen at LetterOne have already been sanctioned: Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, also co-founders, were sanctioned by the EU and U.K. in March 2022. “Remedica has not engaged in any discussions with the Cypriot government regarding concerns about EU sanctions related to individuals associated with LetterOne,” the generics firm said, adding: “Neither LetterOne nor Remedica have made any political donations to President Christodoulides’ administration.” The government has denied the allegations made in the video and calls it “hybrid activity” aimed at harming “the image of the government and the country.” Investigators are examining whether the X video was from a sting operation by people posing as investors, reported Phile News. Kosogov is not named on the EU sanctions list. There is no record in any public debates or meetings’ minutes at the European Commission, Parliament or Council of officials discussing Kosogov with regard to a possible EU sanction; his name is mentioned only in a June 2025 EU court judgement regarding another sanctioned individual, German Khan, who transferred ownership of his stakes in LetterOne and Russia’s Alfa Bank to Kosogov. Renew MEP Sandro Gozi has written to the Commission asking which position Cyprus took during discussions on the possible inclusion of Kosogov on the sanctions list and “whether representations were made in his favour” by Cypriot representatives, reported Cyprus Mail. In July 2025, Remedica donated €75,000 to the Cypriot government to support “wildfire relief efforts” in Cyprus. “LetterOne did respond to Cyprus’ public call for support for those affected by last year’s devastating wildfires, which also impacted Remedica employees,” Remedica told POLITICO. Asked if this was something the company would usually do, Remedica said that it had also provided “in-kind support during times of national need,” including donating ten new ventilators to the State Health Services Organisation in October 2020, to support the country’s health care system during the Covid-19 pandemic. “LetterOne has made similar donations in other markets where natural disasters have had an impact on staff in Portfolio companies — for example, the terrible flooding in Valencia, Spain, (where LetterOne has a substantial interest in Dia Supermarkets),” Remedica added.

Cyprus’ corruption scandal continued to explode on Monday as the president’s top aide resigned. President Nikos Christodoulides’ chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous announced his resignation citing a targeted effort to “personally harm the president, question the government, and damage the image of our homeland.” “My own participation, through deliberate distortions, selective excerpts, and references in a different context, guided people to misleading conclusions [and] is being exploited, without the intention of a sober reading of the real information,” he said in a Facebook post. The move comes after a secretly recorded video was posted on X on Thursday evening, just a day after Cyprus officially assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU, triggering a political crisis. It was not immediately possible to find public and verifiable information confirming the real identity of the person behind the account that posted the video. The video includes a montage of senior figures filmed apparently describing ways to bypass campaign spending caps with cash donations, and seemingly discussing a scheme allowing businesspeople to access the president and first lady. One segment made reference to helping Russians avoid EU sanctions. Charalambous, Christodoulides’ brother-in-law, is shown explaining how to gain access to the presidential palace. The video also alleges that social contributions made by companies through the AFKS fund, run by the first lady, are being misused to win preferential treatment. On Sunday, first lady Philippa Karsera announced that she is stepping down from the management committee of a charity fund. The government denies the allegations made in the video and has called it “hybrid activity” aimed at harming “the image of the government and the country.” Cyprus has requested assistance from specialized teams in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom and France to help it investigate the οrigin of the video and who created it, according to the Cyprus News Agency.

Cyprus’ first lady Philippa Karsera announced on Sunday that she is stepping down from the management committee of a charity fund amid corruption allegations. In a post on her Facebook page, Karsera said she’ll formally announce her resignation during a committee meeting of the Independent Social Support Agency (AFKS) on Monday. She cited an “unrelenting attack” against her and her family on social media over the past days and added that she has sought legal advice. The move comes after a secretly recorded video was posted on X on Thursday evening, just a day after Cyprus officially assumed the presidency of the EU Council, triggering a political crisis. The video includes a montage of senior figures filmed apparently describing ways to bypass campaign spending caps with cash donations, and seemingly discussing a scheme allowing businesspeople to access the president and first lady. One segment made reference to helping Russians avoid EU sanctions. It alleges that social contributions made by companies through the AFKS fund that the first lady runs are being misused to win preferential treatment. The government denies the allegations made in the video and has called it “hybrid activity” aimed at harming “the image of the government and the country.” Cyprus has requested assistance from specialized teams in the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom and France to help it investigate the οrigin of the video and who created it, according to the Cyprus News Agency. “The First Lady’s resignation came with three days’ delay, while the director of the president’s office remains in his position,” said opposition party AKEL in a statement, adding that the government continues to refuse to disclose the names of those who donated to the fund. The political parties that support the country’s coalition government are considering withdrawing their support, according to local media. Cyprus is set to hold parliamentary elections in May while the next presidential election is scheduled for 2028.

Just as Cyprus’ government should be concentrating on its presidency of the Council of the EU, it has to firefight controversy at home over a video circulating online that alleges top-level corruption. The furor centers on a mysterious video posted on X with a montage of senior figures filmed apparently describing ways to bypass campaign spending caps with cash donations, and seemingly discussing a scheme allowing businesspeople to access the president and first lady. One segment made reference to helping Russians avoid EU sanctions. The government denies the allegations made in the video and calls it “hybrid activity” aimed at harming “the image of the government and the country.” The government does not say the video is a fake, but insists the comments have been spliced together misleadingly. The footage appears to have been shot using hidden cameras in private meetings. Unconvinced, opposition parties are now calling for further action. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides hit back hard against the suggestion of illicit campaign funding in remarks to local media on Friday. “I would like to publicly call on anyone who has evidence of direct or indirect financial gains during the election campaign or during my time as President of the Republic to submit it immediately to the competent state authorities,” he said. “I will not give anyone, absolutely anyone, the right to accuse me of corruption.” In relation to the reference to payments made by businesses, he said companies “must also offer social benefits within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the state, I want to repeat, for the state. And they do so in the areas of health, welfare, defense, and many other areas.” The contentious video was posted on Thursday afternoon on social media platform X on an account under the name “Emily Thompson,” who is described as an “independent researcher, analyst and lecturer focused mainly on American domestic and foreign policies.” It was not immediately possible to find public and verifiable information confirming the real identity of the person behind the account. The video includes footage of former Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis and the director of the president’s office, Charalambos Charalambous. In the recordings, Lakkotrypis is presented as a point of contact for people seeking access to Christodoulides. He appears to walk his interlocutor through the process on payments above the €1 million campaign limit. In a written statement, Lakkotrypis said it is “self-evident” from the video that remarks attributed to him were edited in order to distort the context of the discussions, with the aim of harming Cyprus and himself personally. He added that he filed a complaint with the police. The police have launched an investigation into the video, after Lakkotrypis’ complaint, its spokesman Vyron Vyronos told the Cyprus News Agency. The video then shows Charalambous, Christodoulides’ brother-in-law, who explains gaining access to the presidential palace. “We are the main, the two, contacts here at the palace, next to the president,” he says, adding that interested parties could approach the president with a proposal and money that could be directed toward social contributions. There was no official statement from Charalambous. The video alleges that social contributions made by companies through a fund run by the first lady are being misused to win preferential treatment from the presidency. Concern over this fund is not new. The Cypriot parliament last year voted through legislation that called for the publication of the names of the donors to that fund. The president vetoed that move, however, and took the matter to court, arguing that publicly disclosing the list of donors would be a personal data breach. The court ruled in favor of the president and the names were not revealed. Stefanos Stefanou, leader of the main opposition AKEL party, said the video raised “serious political, ethical, and institutional issues” which compromised the president and his entourage politically and personally. He called on the president to dismiss Charalambous, abolish the social support fund and — after the donors have been made public — transfer its responsibilities to another institution. AKEL also submitted a bill on Friday to abolish the fund within the next three months and called for the first lady to resign as head of the fund. AKEL also requested that the allegations from the video be discussed in the parliament’s institutions’ committee. Another opposition party, Democratic Rally, said: “What is revealed in the video is shocking and extremely serious … Society is watching in shock and demanding clear and convincing answers from the government. Answers that have not yet been given.” Cyprus has parliamentary elections in May and the next presidential election is in 2028.

PARIS — Parisian voters will in March choose a new mayor for the first time in 12 years after incumbent Anne Hidalgo decided last year against running for reelection. Her successor will become one of France’s most recognizable politicians both at home and abroad, governing a city that, with more than 2 million people, is more populous than several EU countries. Jacques Chirac used it as a springboard to the presidency. The timing of the contest — a year before France’s next presidential election — raises the stakes still further. Though Paris is not a bellwether for national politics — the far-right National Rally, for example, is nowhere near as strong in the capital as elsewehere — what happens in the capital can still reverberate nationwide. Parisian politics and the city’s transformation attract nationwide attention in a country which is still highly centralized — and voters across the country observe the capital closely, be it with disdain or fascination. It’s also not a winner-take-all race. If a candidate’s list obtains more than 10 percent of the vote in the first round, they will advance to the runoff and be guaranteed representation on the city council. Here are the main candidates running to replace Hidalgo: ON THE LEFT EMMANUEL GRÉGOIRE Emmanuel Grégoire wants to become Paris’ third Socialist Party mayor in a row. He’s backed by the outgoing administration — but not the mayor herself, who has not forgiven the 48-year-old for having ditched his former job as her deputy to run for parliament last summer in a bid to boost his name recognition. HIS STRENGTHS: Grégoire is a consensual figure who has managed, for the first time ever, to get two key left-wing parties, the Greens and the Communists, to form a first-round alliance and not run their own candidates. That broad backing is expected to help him finish first in the opening round of voting. Emmanuel Grégoire. | Thomas Samson/AFP via Getty Images His falling-out with Hidalgo could also turn to his advantage given her unpopularity. Though Hidalgo will undoubtedly be remembered for her work turning Paris into a green, pedestrian-friendly “15 minute” city, recent polling shows Parisians are divided over her legacy. It’s a tough mission, but Grégoire could theoretically campaign on the outgoing administration’s most successful policies while simultaneously distancing himself from Hidalgo herself. ACHILLES’ HEEL: Grégoire can seem like a herbivorous fish in a shark tank. He hasn’t appeared as telegenic or media savvy as his rivals. Even his former boss Hidalgo accused him of being unable to take the heat in trying times, a key trait when applying for one of the most exposed jobs in French politics. Polling at: 32 percent Odds of winning: SOPHIA CHIKIROU Sophia Chikirou, a 46-year-old France Unbowed lawmaker representing a district in eastern Paris, hopes to outflank Grégoire from further to the left. HER STRENGTHS: A skilled political operative and communications expert, Chikirou is one of the brains behind left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s last two presidential runs, both of which ended with the hard left trouncing its mainstream rival — Grégoire’s Socialist Party. Sophia Chikirou. | Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images She’ll try to conjure up that magic again in the French capital, where she is likely to focus her campaign on socially mixed areas near the city’s outer boundaries that younger voters, working-class households and descendants of immigrants typically call home. France Unbowed often performs well with all those demographics. ACHILLES’ HEEL: Chikirou is a magnet for controversy. In 2023, the investigative news program Cash Investigation revealed Chikirou had used a homophobic slur to refer to employees she was feuding with during a brief stint as head of a left-wing media operation. She also remains under formal investigation over suspicions that she overbilled Mélenchon — who is also her romantic partner — during his 2017 presidential run for communications services. Her opponents on both the left and right have also criticized her for what they consider rose-tinted views of the Chinese regime. Chikirou has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the overbilling accusations. She has not commented on the homophobic slur attributed to her and seldom accepts interviews, but her allies have brushed it off as humor, or a private conversation. Polling at: 13 percent Odds of winning: ON THE RIGHT RACHIDA DATI Culture Minister Rachida Dati is mounting her third bid for the Paris mayorship. This looks to be her best shot. HER STRENGTHS: Dati is a household name in France after two decades in politics. Culture Minister Rachida Dati. | Julien de Rosa/AFP via Getty Images She is best known for her combative persona and her feuds with the outgoing mayor as head of the local center-right opposition. She is the mayor of Paris’ 7th arrondissement (most districts in Paris have their own mayors, who handle neighborhood affairs and sit in the city council). It’s a well-off part of the capital along the Left Bank of the Seine that includes the Eiffel Tower. Since launching her campaign, Dati has tried to drum up support with social media clips similar to those that propelled Zohran Mamdani from an unknown assemblyman to mayor of New York. Hers have, unsurprisingly, a right-wing spin. She’s been seen ambushing migrants, illicit drug users and contraband sellers in grittier parts of Paris, racking up millions of views in the process. ACHILLES’ HEEL: Dati is a polarizing figure and tends to make enemies. Despite being a member of the conservative Les Républicains, Dati bagged a cabinet position in early 2024, braving the fury of her allies as she attempted to secure support from the presidential orbit for her mayoral run. But the largest party supporting President Emmanuel Macron, Renaissance, has instead chosen to back one of Dati’s center-right competitors. The party’s leader, Gabriel Attal, was prime minister when Dati was first appointed culture minister, and a clash between the two reportedly ended with Dati threatening to turn her boss’s dog into a kebab. (She later clarified that she meant it jokingly.) If she does win, she’ll be commuting from City Hall to the courthouse a few times a week in September, when she faces trial on corruption charges. Dati is accused of having taken funds from French automaker Renault to work as a consultant, while actually lobbying on behalf of the company thanks to her role as an MEP. Dati is being probed in other criminal affairs as well, including accusations that she failed to declare a massive jewelry collection. She has repeatedly professed her innocence in all of the cases. Polling at: 27 percent Odds of winning: PIERRE-YVES BOURNAZEL After dropping Dati, Renaissance decided to back a long-time Parisian center-right councilman: Pierre-Yves Bournazel. HIS STRENGTHS: Bournazel is a good fit for centrists and moderate conservatives who don’t have time for drama. He landed on the city council aged 31 in 2008, and — like Dati — has been dreaming of claiming the top job at city hall for over a decade. His low profile and exclusive focus on Parisian politics could also make it easier for voters from other political allegiances to consider backing him. Pierre-Yves Bournazel. | Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images ACHILLES’ HEEL: Bourna-who? The Ipsos poll cited in this story showed more than half of Parisians said they “did not know [Bournazel] at all.” Limited name recognition has led to doubts about his ability to win, even within his own camp. Although Bournazel earned support from Macron’s Renaissance party, several high-level Parisian party figures, such as Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad, have stuck with the conservative Dati instead. Macron himself appears unwilling to back his party’s choice, in part due to Bournazel being a member of Horizons, the party of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe — who turned full Brutus and publicly called on the president to step down last fall. “I don’t see myself putting up posters for someone whose party has asked the president to resign,” said one of Macron’s top aides, granted anonymity as is standard professional practice. Polling at: 14 percent Odds of winning: ON THE FAR RIGHT THIERRY MARIANI Thierry Mariani, one of the first members of the conservative Les Républicains to cross the Rubicon to the far right, will represent the far right National Rally in the race to lead Paris. Though the party of the Le Pen family is currently France’s most popular political movement, it has struggled in the French capital for decades. Thierry Mariani. | Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images HIS STRENGTHS: The bar is low for Mariani, as his party currently holds no seats on the city council. Mariani should manage to rack up some votes among lower-income households in Parisian social housing complexes while also testing how palatable his party has become to wealthier voters before the next presidential race. ACHILLES’ HEEL: Mariani has links to authoritarian leaders that Parisians won’t like. In 2014, he was part of a small group of French politicians who visited then-President of Syria Bashar al-Assad. He has also met Russia’s Vladimir Putin and traveled to Crimea to serve as a so-called observer in elections and referendums held in the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia — trips that earned him a reprimand from the European Parliament. Polling at: 7 percent Odds of winning: SARAH KNAFO There’s another candidate looking to win over anti-migration voters in Paris: Sarah Knafo, the millennial MEP who led far-right pundit-turned-politician Éric Zemmour’s disappointing 2022 presidential campaign. Knafo has not yet confirmed her run but has said on several occasions that it is under consideration. HER STRENGTHS: Though Zemmour only racked up around 7 percent of the vote when running for president, he fared better than expected in some of Paris’ most privileged districts. The firebrand is best known for popularizing the “great replacement” conspiracy theory in France — that white populations are being deliberately replaced by non-white. She appeals to hardline libertarian conservatives whose position on immigration aligns with the far right but who are alienated by the National Rally’s protectionism and its support for the French welfare state. Sarah Knafo. | Bastien Ohier/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images Knafo, who combines calls for small government with a complete crackdown on immigration, could stand a chance of finishing ahead of the National Rally in Paris. That would then boost her profile ahead of a potential presidential bid. If she reaches the 10 percent threshold, she’d be able to earn her party seats on the city council and more sway in French politics at large. ACHILLES’ HEEL: Besides most of Paris not aligning with her politics? Knafo describes herself as being “at an equal distance” from the conservative Les Républicains and the far-right National Rally. That positioning risks squeezing her between the two. Polling at: 7 percent Odds of winning: EDITOR’S NOTE: Poll figures are taken from an Ipsos survey of 849 Parisians released on Dec. 12.