Belgian authorities have issued a European arrest warrant for former European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in connection with the Qatargate investigation, with the relevant case file now being sent to the Greek Parliament so MPs can examine whether his parliamentary immunity should be lifted.

The request was forwarded by the Greek Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office to Justice Minister George Floridis and is being submitted to Parliament, which must decide on the immunity issue before the Belgian warrant can be executed.

Avramopoulos, who served as European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship from 2014 to 2019 and is currently an MP with Greece’s ruling New Democracy party, is being asked to provide explanations to the Belgian judiciary over his paid role with Fight Impunity, the NGO founded by former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri.

Panzeri is one of the central figures in Qatargate, the corruption scandal that erupted in Brussels in 2022 and shook the European Parliament. The case also involved Eva Kaili, the Greek former vice-president of the European Parliament, who was held in pre-trial detention after Belgian authorities launched the investigation.

According to reports, Avramopoulos faces allegations relating to participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and passive bribery.

The former commissioner has strongly denied any wrongdoing, describing the case as “completely baseless”. He has also said he will not invoke parliamentary immunity and has called for the matter to be fully investigated by the justice system.

Greek judicial authorities have been informed of the Belgian move, but the warrant cannot be executed immediately because Avramopoulos’s immunity as an MP must first be lifted by the Hellenic Parliament.

Under the required procedure, the case file is being sent from the Athens Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office and then, through the Ministry of Justice, to Parliament.

Reports said Avramopoulos went to the Athens Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office on Monday after being informed of the Belgian authorities’ intentions.

Since the beginning of the Qatargate investigation, Avramopoulos has rejected any suggestion of misconduct and has insisted that his relationship with Fight Impunity was lawful, declared, taxed and approved by the European Commission.

In a statement, he said he had been informed by journalists that a document had allegedly been sent by the Belgian authorities to Greece, attempting “without any basis” to link his name to the Fight Impunity case.

“This case never concerned me,” he said, adding that the matter had been closed three years ago “with full institutional transparency” and with approval from the European Commission, following a decision signed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Avramopoulos said his involvement with Fight Impunity, alongside other international figures, had been “entirely lawful, audited, approved, declared and taxed”. He denied any direct or indirect involvement in wrongdoing and said any attempt by the Belgian authorities to implicate him in the case would be met with all available legal means.

“Although this is a completely baseless matter, I state unequivocally that I will not invoke any parliamentary immunity,” he said. “On the contrary, I will turn to the Greek justice system myself, requesting that the matter be fully investigated and a ruling be issued.”

The former commissioner maintains that he declared all payments he received from the NGO in his financial disclosure statement. Belgian judicial authorities, however, reportedly claim that the money came from a “criminal network”.

In an earlier statement on December 19, 2022, Avramopoulos said his role in Fight Impunity involved no executive or managerial responsibilities. He said the committee on which he served, alongside figures including Federica Mogherini, the former EU foreign policy chief, Bernard Cazeneuve, a former French prime minister, and Italian senator Emma Bonino, was honorary.

He also said he had sought approval from the European Commission before accepting the role and its related compensation, and that approval had been granted in writing by von der Leyen. He added that the Commission’s Independent Ethical Committee had issued a positive opinion on his participation in the NGO’s honorary committee on December 10, 2020.

According to Avramopoulos, the compensation covered one year, from February 2021 to February 2022, and amounted to €5,000 per month, or €3,750 after deductions. He said the income was declared and taxed in Greece under Greek law.

He said he requested that the payments be stopped in February 2022 because the organisation’s activity had slowed down, and that from March of that year his involvement had effectively ended.

After the Qatargate scandal became public in Brussels, he said he immediately submitted his resignation from Fight Impunity and asked for his name to be removed from the organisation’s website, along with the names of other figures who had served on the committee.