BRUSSELS — The European Parliament is considering whether to ban access to Russian websites such as Sputnik and RT from its IT infrastructure. Scores of websites hosting the broadcasters’ content remain accessible despite the EU sanctioning Russian media across the bloc in 2022 after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists, whose Polish and Italian leaders publicly oppose Russia’s war, asked during a political group leaders’ meeting on Oct. 15 for “Russian propaganda websites under EU sanctions” to be made inaccessible on Parliament’s IT infrastructure. The request comes from Latvian MEP Rihards Kols, who said he wants the Parliament to block access to RT, Sputnik, VGTRK, ANO TV Novosti and others across all Parliament devices and networks. “This is a matter of information security, institutional coherence, and the credibility of the Parliament’s position against Russian disinformation,” he told POLITICO, adding that “the Latvian national media regulator has raised the issue directly with [Parliament] President [Roberta] Metsola.” If approved, the measure would mirror restrictions already imposed on the social media giant TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is headquartered in Beijing, over network security concerns. The TikTok app was blocked on the Parliament’s Wi-Fi and devices in March 2023. Several political group leaders expressed concerns that the ban could set a precedent for websites being banned “for reasons other than security,” and cited the technical and legal challenges of enforcing such restrictions, according to the meeting notes. Metsola is “investigating” the possibility and studying which other measures are applied in other EU institutions, according to the notes. Kols said “a solution is expected to be proposed in the near future.” The Parliament’s press service said in a statement the matter will be discussed again in a future leaders’ meeting. “The European Parliament takes the protection of its users and their data seriously and implement measures to protect these and its infrastructures.”

BRUSSELS — First it was telecom snooping. Now Europe is growing worried that Huawei could turn the lights off. The Chinese tech giant is at the heart of a brewing storm over the security of Europe’s energy grids. Lawmakers are writing to the European Commission to urge it to “restrict high-risk vendors” from solar energy systems, in a letter seen by POLITICO. Such restrictions would target Huawei first and foremost, as the dominant Chinese supplier of critical parts of these systems. The fears center around solar panel inverters, a piece of technology that turns solar panels’ electricity into current that flows into the grid. China is a dominant supplier of these inverters, and Huawei is its biggest player. Because the inverters are hooked up to the internet, security experts warn the inverters could be tampered with or shut down through remote access, potentially causing dangerous surges or drops in electricity in Europe’s networks. The warnings come as European governments have woken up to the risks of being reliant on other regions for critical services — from Russian gas to Chinese critical raw materials and American digital services. The bloc is in a stand-off with Beijing over trade in raw materials, and has faced months of pressure from Washington on how Brussels regulates U.S. tech giants. Cybersecurity authorities are close to finalizing work on a new “toolbox” to de-risk tech supply chains, with solar panels among its key target sectors, alongside connected cars and smart cameras. Two members of the European Parliament, Dutch liberal Bart Groothuis and Slovak center-right lawmaker Miriam Lexmann, drafted a letter warning the European Commission of the risks. “We urge you to propose immediate and binding measures to restrict high-risk vendors from our critical infrastructure,” the two wrote. The members had gathered the support of a dozen colleagues by Wednesday and are canvassing for more to join the initiative before sending the letter mid next week.   According to research by trade body SolarPower Europe, Chinese firms control approximately 65 percent of the total installed power in the solar sector. The largest company in the European market is Huawei, a tech giant that is considered a high-risk vendor of telecom equipment. The second-largest firm is Sungrow, which is also Chinese, and controls about half the amount of solar power as Huawei. Huawei’s market power recently allowed it to make its way back into SolarPower Europe, the solar sector’s most prominent lobby association in Brussels, despite an ongoing Belgian bribery investigation focused on the firm’s lobbying activities in Brussels that saw it banned from meeting with European Commission and Parliament officials. Security hawks are now upping the ante. Cybersecurity experts and European manufacturers say the Chinese conglomerate and its peers could hack into Europe’s power grid.  “They can disable safety parameters. They can set it on fire,” Erika Langerová, a cybersecurity researcher at the Czech Technical University in Prague, said in a media briefing hosted by the U.S. Mission to the EU in September.  Even switching solar installation off and on again could disrupt energy supply, Langerová said. “When you do it on one installation, it’s not a problem, but then you do it on thousands of installations it becomes a problem because the … compound effect of these sudden changes in the operation of the device can destabilize the power grid.”  Surges in electricity supply can trigger wider blackouts, as seen in Spain and Portugal in April. | Matias Chiofalo/Europa Press via Getty Images Surges in electricity supply can trigger wider blackouts, as seen in Spain and Portugal in April. Some governments have already taken further measures. Last November, Lithuania imposed a ban on remote access by Chinese firms to renewable energy installations above 100 kilowatts, effectively stopping the use of Chinese inverters. In September, the Czech Republic issued a warning on the threat posed by Chinese remote access via components including solar inverters. And in Germany, security officials already in 2023 told lawmakers that an “energy management component” from Huawei had them on alert, leading to a government probe of the firm’s equipment. CHINESE CONTROL, EU RESPONSE  The arguments leveled against Chinese manufacturers of solar inverters echo those heard from security experts in previous years, in debates on whether or not to block companies like video-sharing app TikTok, airport scanner maker Nuctech and — yes — Huawei’s 5G network equipment. Distrust of Chinese technology has skyrocketed. Under President Xi Jinping, the Beijing government has rolled out regulations forcing Chinese companies to cooperate with security services’ requests to share data and flag vulnerabilities in their software. It has led to Western concerns that it opens the door to surveillance and snooping. One of the most direct threats involves remote management from China of products embedded in European critical infrastructure. Manufacturers have remote access to install updates and maintenance. Europe has also grown heavily reliant on Chinese tech suppliers, particularly when it comes to renewable energy, which is powering an increasing proportion of European energy. Domestic manufacturers of solar panels have enough supply to fill the gap that any EU action to restrict Chinese inverters would create, Langerová said. But Europe does not yet have enough battery or wind manufacturers — two clean energy sector China also dominates. China’s dominance also undercuts Europe’s own tech sector and comes with risks of economic coercion. Until only a few years ago, European firms were competitive, before being undercut by heavily subsidized Chinese products, said Tobias Gehrke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. China on the other hand does not allow foreign firms in its market because of cybersecurity concerns, he said. The European Union previously developed a 5G security toolbox to reduce its dependence on Huawei over these fears. It is also working on a similar initiative, known as the ICT supply chain toolbox, to help national governments scan their wider digital infrastructure for weak points, with a view to blocking or reduce the use of “high-risk suppliers.” According to Groothuis and Lexmann, “binding legislation to restrict risky vendors in our critical infrastructure is urgently required” across the European Union. Until legislation is passed, the EU should put temporary measures in place, they said in their letter.  Huawei did not respond to requests for comment before publication. This article has been updated.

A major outage of Amazon Web Services servers affecting multiple websites Monday morning prompted immediate calls for Europe to boost its tech sovereignty. Slack, Snapchat, Signal and Perplexity were among the affected sites. Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers cloud servers that allow these services and millions of other websites and platforms to run. Brussels is in the midst of a debate on how to achieve digital sovereignty, and what that means exactly, with cloud services at the center of the conversation. EU leaders are expected to take a position during a high-level summit meeting later this week. “Today’s outage shows how concentrated power makes the internet fragile and this lack of resilience hits our economies as a result,” technologist Robin Berjon said in an email. Berjon co-founded the Eurostack project — an initiative campaigning to make Europe self-reliant in digital services. “Europe’s dependency on monopoly cloud companies like Amazon is a security vulnerability and an economic threat we can’t ignore,” Cori Crider, executive director of the Future of Technology Institute, said in an email. According to AWS’s health dashboard, which shows a “running log of AWS service interruptions for the past 12 months,” the outage originated with servers in North America and specifically Virginia. That prompted reaction including from Ulrike Franke, senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations: “My robot vacuum cleaner no longer works and can someone explain why a robot in Paris is linked to U.S. East? Talk about European digital sovereignty…” she posted on Bluesky. “These disruptions are not just technical issues, they’re democratic failures,” said Corinne Cath-Speth, head of digital at civil society group Article 19. “When a single provider goes dark, critical services go offline with it — media outlets become inaccessible, secure communication apps like Signal stop functioning, and the infrastructure that serves our digital society crumbles.” “We urgently need diversification in cloud computing,” she added. Transcription service Trint said in an email that it had experienced disruption but “customers on our EU servers should be largely unaffected.” In a statement shared with media outlets, Amazon Web Services said: “We continue to observe recovery across most of the affected AWS Services. We can confirm global services and features that rely on US-EAST-1 have also recovered. We continue to work towards full resolution and will provide updates as we have more information to share.” Asked at a briefing of reporters in Brussels on Monday, European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said the outage “would be a question for the companies, this is not for us to comment on.” With regard to how it had affected the Commission’s own operations, Paula Pinho, chief spokesperson for the European Commission, said: “We were more using for instance e-mails. We go back to our traditional methods.” Pieter Haeck contributed reporting.

Spain’s national transmission system operator has not found signs that a cyberattack was at the root of the massive power blackout in Spain and Portugal on Monday. “With the analyses we have been able to carry out so far, we can rule out a cybersecurity incident in the electricity grid facilities at the Red Eléctrica control center,” Red Eléctrica’s head of system operation services Eduardo Prieto said at a press conference on Tuesday. Prieto said the conclusions were preliminary, but said that so far, the operator had “been able to conclude that there has not been any type of intrusion in the electrical network control systems that could have caused the incident.” When lights went out on Monday, people in the street in Spain and some local politicians speculated the blackout could be due to a cyberattack. Cyber agencies and other authorities including the European Commission cautioned against linking it to a cyberattack, noting that no evidence of such an attack had been found thus far. Red Eléctrica’s statement on Tuesday is the strongest so far that actively rules out a cyberattack. The outage left millions of people without access to basic modern necessities. Prieto said on Monday that the blackout was caused by a “very strong oscillation in the electrical network,” The full explanation of why networks went down is still unknown.

The European Commission will no longer meet with organizations affiliated with Huawei, following an investigation into alleged corruption at the European Parliament that would have benefited the Chinese technology firm. “The Commission shall not meet with any lobby groups and/or trade associations that represent Huawei’s interests and/or speak on its behalf,” the Commission’s spokesperson service told POLITICO in a statement. The Commission had already banned “contact and meetings” with Huawei officials in March, just days after Belgian investigators launched a corruption probe into the Chinese technology company’s activities in Brussels. Wednesday’s statement added the ban extended to “any intermediaries acting on Huawei’s behalf who would engage in meetings and other contacts with Commission staff to advance the interests of the company.” At least eight people have been charged by the Belgian prosecutor — including one of Huawei’s most senior executives in Europe — with active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization, after a series of police raids of premises in Belgium, France and Portugal. Huawei is listed as a member of 22 associations in the European Union’s transparency register, which tracks corporate lobbying activities. Several of these, like DigitalEurope, BusinessEurope and the European Internet Forum, have already moved to suspend the Chinese company in response to the bribery scandal. Several other organizations told POLITICO at the end of March that they were “closely monitoring the situation.” Some took measures to distance themselves in the past weeks. At least eight people have been charged by the Belgian prosecutor with active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization, after a series of police raids of premises in Belgium, France and Portugal. | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images At SolarPower Europe, Huawei representatives still hold key roles but the organization has scaled back the company’s “non-membership financial commitments,” a spokesperson for the association previously confirmed. SolarPower Europe did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for an update on its work with Huawei. Think tank CERRE, which has Huawei as a member, previously said it had the situation “under close review.” It declined to comment for this article. The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), where Huawei is still listed as a member, is reviewing the company’s status with results expected on April 29, it said in a comment. Other organizations that list Huawei as a member, including Eurelectric, the European Association for Storage of Energy, Bruegel, FTTH and ECTA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment or an update on previous statements about their work with the Chinese tech firm. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It said in a previous statement: “The company maintains a zero-tolerance stance against corruption. As always, we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.” This article has been updated to include a response from ECSO.

BRUSSELS — One of Huawei’s most senior executives in Europe is a suspect in the Belgian investigation into alleged corruption at the European Parliament benefitting the Chinese technology company, POLITICO can reveal.  The senior executive was represented in a Belgian court on Tuesday, documents relating to the hearing showed. He is charged with “active corruption of a person holding a public office, criminal organization and money laundering,” said one of the documents, which were disclosed as part of the preparation of a hearing at Brussels’ Chamber of Accusation.  The senior executive is listed as a vice president for the Europe region at Huawei and previously held a position as chief representative to the European Union leading the firm’s public affairs office in Brussels. He can only be identified as Yong J. Tuesday’s hearing, held behind closed doors, was part of proceedings where defense teams engage with senior judges to discuss procedural matters, including potential custody decisions.  The senior executive could not be reached for comment and his lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Huawei spokesperson also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  The charges followed a series of police raids of premises in Belgium and Portugal, including Huawei’s Brussels lobbying headquarters and several European Parliament offices. | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images Belgian investigators are probing whether illegal payments were made to secure political backing for an open letter supporting the Chinese company’s interests and signed off by eight members of the European Parliament, according to an arrest warrant seen by POLITICO.  The Belgian prosecutor said Friday it had charged eight people. The charges followed a series of police raids of premises in Belgium and Portugal, including Huawei’s Brussels lobbying headquarters and several European Parliament offices. Aside from Yong J., three other Huawei employees were among the suspects in the corruption probe who first faced Belgian judges last week as part of procedural hearings, including a lobbyist and a senior executive for the firm, who can only be described as Valerio O. and Han W. They are also facing charges related to corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization.  All suspects are presumed innocent.  Huawei fired two employees and suspended a third for their alleged involvement in the bribery investigation, a spokesperson said Monday. The spokesperson did not disclose the identities or roles of the employees affected. It is unclear whether the employees fired and suspended by Huawei are the same as the Huawei officials who were preliminarily charged. Huawei said in a previous statement: “The company maintains a zero-tolerance stance against corruption. As always, we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations.”  Mathieu Pollet contributed reporting.

BRUSSELS — Huawei has fired two employees and suspended a third for their alleged involvement in a bribery investigation surrounding the Chinese technology giant and the European Parliament, POLITICO has learned. The firm “terminated the employment of two individuals” from April 1 and suspended a third from April 2, a spokesperson for Huawei said in a statement. “We take the ongoing investigation seriously,” the spokesperson added. The spokesperson did not disclose the identities or roles of the employees affected by the measures. A lobbyist, a senior executive and a procurement manager with Huawei were among the suspects in the corruption probe who first faced Belgian judges last week as part of procedural hearings. The officials were preliminary charged with corruption, participation in a criminal organization and money laundering. They are presumed innocent. It is unclear if the three employees fired and suspended by Huawei are the same as the Huawei officials who were preliminary charged. “The company maintains a zero-tolerance stance against corruption. As always, we are fully committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations,” the Huawei spokesperson said. The Belgian prosecutor said Friday it charged eight people in total, three weeks after police raided addresses in Belgium and Portugal, including Huawei’s Brussels lobbying office. Investigators are probing whether illegal payments were made to secure political backing for an open letter supporting the Chinese company’s interest and signed off by eight members of the European Parliament. Out of the eight suspects, three are now under electronic surveillance, two were released “under conditions,” and three remain in prison, according to the statement from the prosecutor.

BRUSSELS — Three Huawei employees and a managing director from Brussels conference organizer Forum Europe appeared in court this week for hearings related to the corruption investigation into the Chinese tech giant’s lobbying in Europe. Police raided more than 20 locations in Belgium and Portugal last month within an investigation into alleged illegal payments made by Huawei to secure an open letter signed by eight European lawmakers in support of the company’s interests, according to the Belgian prosecutor and an arrest warrant seen by POLITICO. Five people were charged as part of the investigation, prosecutors said on March 18. In the first session, the parties met for a 15 minutes behind closed doors at Brussels’ Chamber of Accusation, an appeals court where defense teams discuss ongoing investigations with senior Belgian judges regarding procedural decisions such as whether individuals should be released from custody. A second session, on Wednesday, lasted for more than two hours. According to a court timetable available on site at the Brussels Palace of Justice, the suspects include a lobbyist from Huawei as well as a senior executive and a procurement manager of the Chinese tech firm. The higher profile Huawei employees can be named as Han W. and Valerio O. All are suspected of corruption, participation in a criminal organization and money laundering. They are presumed innocent. Two other defendants are contractors, including one from Forum Europe who is charged with “active corruption of a person holding a public office in an organization governed by public international law,” according to the timetable. Forum Europe said in an email: “We do not have any comment at this time.” The arrest warrant, which POLITICO reported on last week, included details from Belgian prosecutors alleging the key suspects may have facilitated the payments for the pro-Huawei letter. “A sum of €15,000 was offered to the writer of the 5G letter, while each co-signatory was offered €1,500,” read the warrant, signed by the investigative judge. “This transaction or proposed transaction is said to have been endorsed by HUAWEI’s Chinese executives, in particular by …. [the] director of the Brussels office,” it also said. The warrant also described how the former adviser allegedly arranged for the payments via invoices that investigators suspect might be for “alleged consultancy services and campaign expenses, in the amounts of  €18,450 and €27,500.” Huawei said in an earlier statement that it “takes these allegations seriously” and “has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing.” The Chinese Embassy in Belgium told POLITICO in a statement that “the Chinese side is in communication with relevant authorities of the Belgian government” and that the “Chinese government always requires Chinese companies [to] strictly observe laws and regulations of the host countries.” Two other people — one former and one current parliamentary assistant to conservative Italian lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello — were arrested in France and Italy as part of the probe, bringing the total number of suspects to at least seven. They both denied any involvement and accepted being extradited.

Police authorities searched two offices belonging to several European Parliament political assistants in Strasbourg, two officials with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. Police had previously sealed the offices on March 13, the same day that authorities raided more than 20 addresses in Belgium and Portugal as part of an investigation into corruption at the Parliament allegedly benefiting Huawei. Those offices have now been searched, the officials confirmed Thursday. One of the officials confirmed the search in Strasbourg was part of the investigation into Huawei’s lobbying practices. Parliament members and their assistants have offices at the institution’s premises in Brussels, where regular parliamentary activity takes place, as well as at the institution’s official seat in Strasbourg, France, where it holds its plenary sessions. Two offices in Brussels were already sealed and searched earlier this month and were handed back to their tenants. Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to get an open letter written, signed by eight European parliamentarians, which defended the Chinese tech giant’s interests, according to judicial documents seen by POLITICO. Four people have been charged with corruption and criminal organization and one with money laundering, the Belgian prosecutor’s office said. One parliamentary assistant to Italian center-right MEP Fulvio Martusciello was arrested in Italy on March 20. The assistant in question has been suspended from employment by the Parliament, according to the institution’s press services. Martusciello’s office in 2021 led the effort to promote the letter that is under investigation. A spokesperson for Huawei said in a previous statement that the company “has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times.”

BRUSSELS — Belgian prosecutors are investigating whether Huawei made illegal payments to get an open letter written, signed by eight European parliamentarians, which defended the Chinese tech giant’s interests, according to judicial documents seen by POLITICO. Belgian authorities this month raided 21 homes as part of a spiraling probe into “active corruption in the European Parliament” that “benefitted Huawei.” Investigators are looking into “excessive gifts” or “remuneration for taking political positions” that took place “from 2021 to the present day,” the prosecutors said. In a second major test of accountability for the European Parliament after the Qatargate scandal of 2022, four people have been charged with corruption and criminal organization and one with money laundering, the Belgian prosecutor’s office said last week. According to an arrest warrant seen by POLITICO, first reported on by Italian daily La Repubblica, a key part of the investigation hinges on a letter sent by eight MEPs in February 2021 to three EU commissioners, in which they argue geopolitical tensions should not hinder the development of 5G equipment in Europe. That letter, although it does not mention Huawei by name, is seen as promoting the Chinese company’s interests because it came as several EU governments were rolling out measures that sought to limit telecom operators’ use of Chinese equipment, arguing Beijing posed risks because of espionage, surveillance and potential economic dependency. Conservative Italian lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello, one of the signatories, posted the pro-Huawei letter on X on Feb. 15, 2021, but later deleted it. His former parliamentary adviser and his assistant have now both been arrested in relation to the Huawei probe, according to their lawyers. The assistant’s contract has now been suspended. CASH FOR A LETTER The arrest warrant for Martusciello’s assistant includes details from the Belgian prosecutors laying out the heart of the case, in which both she and his former adviser are alleged to have helped arrange payments for the letter, referred to as the “5G” letter in the judicial documents. The description of the Belgian probe, as provided by the investigative judge in charge of the case, says: “A sum of €15,000 was offered to the writer of the 5G letter, while each co-signatory was offered €1,500.” “This transaction or proposed transaction is said to have been endorsed by HUAWEI’s Chinese executives, in particular by …. [the] director of the Brussels office,” the document also reads. The director can only be identified as Abraham L. Moving on to bank details of what it describes as “suspicious payments,” the document sets out how the former adviser allegedly arranged for the payments via invoices “in consideration of alleged consultancy services and campaign expenses, in the amounts of  €18,450 and €27,500.” “Assuming the facts are established, these amounts would represent the alleged compensation for the above-mentioned letter drafted by eight MEPs for the attention of three European Commissioners in favor of HUAWEI,” the document continues. “The investigation has brought to light the financial circuit of remunerations which would demonstrate the corruptive process.” As part of a series of bank transfers, the former adviser wired €6,700 to Martusciello, €1,000 to his assistant, and €14,800 to another parliamentary assistant, the warrant says. Several account holders that received payments remain unknown. Conservative Italian lawmaker Fulvio Martusciello, one of the signatories, posted the pro-Huawei letter on X on Feb. 15, 2021, but later deleted it. | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images When contacted by POLITICO, Belgian prosecutors declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. Martusciello did not respond to requests for comment about the bank transfers. Asked about Abraham L.’s alleged involvement in a bribery scheme, Huawei did not respond to a request for comment. A company spokesperson said in an earlier statement: “Huawei takes these allegations seriously and will urgently communicate with the investigation to further understand the situation. Huawei has a zero tolerance policy towards corruption or other wrongdoing, and we are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations at all times.” ARRESTS AND ALLEGATIONS Martusciello’s current assistant was arrested in Italy last week as part of the Huawei probe. She “was not involved in the political activities of Mr Martusciello, she only dealt with logistics,” her lawyer Antimo Giaccio told POLITICO, adding she “was very rarely at the European Parliament … about 10 times.” Before an Italian judge on Tuesday, she rejected all the preliminary charges against her but said she stood ready to answer “any questions from the Belgian authorities,” her lawyer added. The former parliamentary adviser for Martusciello, who worked for him between 2015 and 2019, was also arrested in Paris last Thursday as part of the Huawei probe, his lawyer Benoît Martinez told POLITICO. “My client intends to fully cooperate with the Belgian authorities. He denies any involvement with the charges he’s suspected of,” he added. He declined to comment further on the charges related to his client. The Belgian secret services, which filed a declassified report that triggered the investigation, found digital evidence that the former adviser could have been involved in the drafting of the 2021 letter with one of Huawei’s lobbyists, who can only be identified as Valerio O., the arrest warrant says. Valerio O.’s lawyer Denis Bosquet declined to comment. The investigators say the transfers can also “be linked to the drafting by MEP Fulvio Martusciello of legislative amendments favorable to Huawei,” and to a communication in which Valerio O. tells an employee of Huawei in Poland “that they [Huawei] ‘often cross the line and even pay for amendments.'” The same month as promoting the letter, February 2021, Martusciello submitted amendments to a European parliamentary report that would favor Huawei’s position in Europe. Martusciello did not reply to multiple requests for comment about the letter, but told POLITICO he didn’t know the charges against his assistant. He told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that he had never received anything from Huawei. “I’ve never been to China, I’ve never been to the stadium, I’ve never received a cell phone or any other gift,” he said. NGO Transparency International received an anonymous tip in connection to the 2021 letter and forwarded the tip to the EU’s OLAF anti-fraud office, it said. The then-director of the civil rights group Michiel van Hulten this month posted on Bluesky that OLAF had dismissed the claims because of “insufficient suspicions” of wrongdoing. A spokesperson for OLAF confirmed it did not investigate the matter.  KEEPING A DISTANCE It remains unclear whether any of the co-signatories of the 2021 letter are being investigated by Belgian authorities as part of the Huawei corruption probe, but several of those current and former members of the European Parliament are now taking pains to distance themselves from it. POLITICO asked all of them about their involvement. Those who responded said they had not been contacted by authorities with regard to the letter. The same month as promoting the letter, February 2021, Martusciello submitted amendments to a European parliamentary report that would favor Huawei’s position in Europe. | Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Italian conservative lawmaker Herbert Dorfmann insisted the text was Martusciello’s idea and said he would not have signed the letter had he known it was related to the Chinese firm. “I have always been politically in favor of keeping Huawei out of the European market,” he told POLITICO. He added neither he nor his team were offered money “or any other form of compensation in exchange for [his] signature.” Former MEP Cristian-Silviu Bușoi, a Romanian conservative, stated he never consented to signing. “I looked through my official email and found no correspondence regarding this letter,” he said in a written statement. “I also do not recall giving verbal consent to Mr Martusciello, as is sometimes customary when colleagues seek support for their initiatives,” he also said, adding that neither he or his staff received any compensation nor were aware of any scheme related to the signature of the letter. Aldo Patriciello, a far-right Italian MEP, said in an email: “I honestly struggle to remember whether the request for my signature came via email, phone call or WhatsApp.” He added that he had no direct or indirect relationship with Huawei or its lobbyists. Romanian conservative Daniel Buda, also a signatory, attributed his involvement to his team, stating he was informed through a briefing prepared by his office staff. “My support was solely driven by concerns about rural digital infrastructure, not influenced by external parties,” he said in an email. He added he had not been contacted by any investigative authority regarding the letter and that neither he or his team received any money in exchange for his signature. “I had no knowledge — neither then nor now — that behind this letter or activity there could be such a scheme,” he told POLITICO in a written statement. Former Italian social-democrat member Giuseppe Ferrandino said: “I am certain I never signed any letters of such kind” and added he had never been contacted by any authorities regarding this topic. “Nobody ever offered me money to influence my parliamentary activity,” he added. Other signatories included hard-right Italian lawmaker Giuseppe Milazzo and former Romanian social-democrat member Tudor Ciuhodaru, neither of whom responded to POLITICO’s requests for comment. Milazzo told Italian news agency ANSA that he had never had meetings related to the investigation into the Huawei case: “I have never been offered and I have never accepted any money, gifts or any kind of favor, directly or indirectly, from [Huawei],” he said. According to conversations with three former Huawei officials, the 2021 letter posted by Martusciello was meant to counter another open letter from October 2020 in which over 40 lawmakers urged the European Commission to impose stricter controls over the use of Chinese equipment in Europe.  In a letter to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Wednesday, 28 members of the chamber urged the institution to “temporarily set aside any MEPs, credibly suspected of involvement, from any parliamentary activity relating to Chinese interests.”  Aitor Hernández-Morales and Paula Andrés Richart contributed reporting.