WHEN THEY ASK QATAR FOR MONEY

It is known that the monarchies and emirates of the Gulf receive requests for help to finance projects that, in some cases, undoubtedly have a certain legitimacy, but in other cases they lack it at all.

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The French newspaper “Le Canard” publishes this week the case of the current Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, known as an important “influencer” in the political and diplomatic circles of Paris.

Rachida Dati, of Moroccan origin, requested the sum of 400,000 euros (431,000 US dollars) from the Emirate of Qatar to finance a supposed “Association of Gulf ambassadors in France.” This request was rejected by the Qatari ambassador, Meshaal al-Thani, who noted “that he had never seen a similar case.”

But Rachida did not accept the answer and took advantage of the official visit to Paris of the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammed ben Abderrahmane Al-Thani, to insist on her request for the large sum of euros.

In the end, from Doha, the Emirate sent a response informing Rachida that her request had been denied. It should be noted that the Qatari ambassador who was replaced by Meshaal had been “very generous,” indicated the Minister of Culture, without further clarification.

It must be remembered that in December 2022, the Belgian security services discovered alleged cases of corruption in which Qatar was mentioned and the MEP, Eva Kaili, who was arrested and imprisoned, would have received money to favorably treat certain Brussels decisions related to the Emirate. Morocco was also involved in this case. Kaili was excluded from her party, the Greek PASOK, and from her position as vice president of the European Parliament. This case was described by the press as a true “Qatargate”.

In the political circles of Western Europe, and particularly those operating in Brussels, headquarters of the European Commission, it is estimated that there continues to be a “passion” for receiving significant sums of money from the Arab countries of the Gulf, in exchange for certain “favors”. Discretion is great in these media, but the desire for personal enrichment is even greater, unfortunately.

Rachida Dati gave the impression that she was sure that Doha would give her the 400,000 euros and had already set up a company in Luxembourg, a tax haven, to deposit it there.