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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 23h

Is an MEP accused of bribery surprisingly wealthy, or up to the neck in debt? That would seem like a salient data point.

But guess what, judicial investigators aren't even checking.

Some depressing news from our Crime & Corruption newsletter:
www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Follow the Money? Not in Huaweigate, where MEPs’ assets go unchecked

Belgian investigators tasked with probing corruption allegations against Chinese telco giant Huawei aren’t really interested in checking asset declarations made by EU lawmakers accused of accepting bribes, Follow the Money has learned.

Earlier this year, Belgian police raided multiple locations in a probe that implicated senior Huawei lobbyists and several members of the European Parliament. Prosecutors have since asked Parliament to lift the immunity of four MEPs, with several others reportedly on their radar.

Yet, despite the probe’s focus on whether MEPs took bribes, investigators appear to show little appetite for scrutinising their financial situation.

Under a little-known change to the Parliament’s code of conduct, MEPs have to, since last year, submit a declaration of their private assets – including real estate worth more than €5,000, stockholdings, non-EU bank accounts as well as any debts – to president Roberta Metsola.

Judicial authorities can request these declarations for any of the 720 sitting or former MEPs. Yet, as Parliament told Follow the Money in response to an access request, not a single one has ever been asked for.

Why did Belgian investigators choose not to, erm, follow the money? “We are aware that declarations of assets are kept by the chairperson,” a spokesperson for the Belgian public prosecutor told FTM. “However, we cannot comment further on this matter.” We should have seen that coming.

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · 1d

Really enjoyed speaking with @emmaduchatinier.bsky.social and @alexfanta.bsky.social on the @ftm.eu podcast about my investigation into 🇪🇺European funding for commercial #spyware companies.

Thanks for having me! 🙏

📺 Watch: youtu.be/htXwY5KQzas?...

🎧 Listen: www.ftm.eu/articles/eur...

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 2d

How the EU refuses to talk about its Israel policy, more secrecy on Big Tech policy, and a new uproar over Ursula's texts - today we publish a new edition of our Secrecy Tracker newsletter. 👏 @ftm.eu @investigate-europe.eu @euobserver.com

Read it for free:
www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...

Israel info withheld, big tech secrecy & vanishing messages

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

www.ftm.eu

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 2d

Just tried to find the sign-up for your newsletter on your website. Could you reply with the link? Sounds amazing.

Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 2d

An dem Auftritt gab es damals breite Kritik, einerseits weil die IV der Brexit-Huldigung Johnsons eine Bühne bot, andererseits weil Johnson für hohe Honorare bekannt ist. Nun wissen wir, wie viel sich die IV das hat kosten lassen.

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 2d

Money well-spent? Die Industriellenvereinigung hat Boris Johnson voriges Jahr 50.000 Euro plus bis zu 25.000 Euro an Reisekosten für seinen umstrittenen Auftritt beim Salzburg Summit angeboten, wie aus geleakten Emails hervorgeht.

Die Mail stammt aus dem Boris-Files-Leak...

We have a new firm invitation for Mr. Johnson which is outlined below. We are working on a vet of this group and will pass it along once available. Here are the details:

Host: Rosam Grünberger Jarosch & Partner OBO Federation of Austrian Industries

*Please note, our main point of contact is Rosam Grunberger Jarosch & Partner, who are producing and managing the event on behalf of Verein Club Salzburg Summit, an entity owned by the Federation of Austrian Industries. To confirm, Verein Club Salzburg Summit, and by extension the Federation of Austrian Industries, will be the contracting and paying entity for Mr Johnson’s participation.
Event Date: Friday, July 26, 2024

Alternate Dates: None

Location: Salzburg, Austria

Venue: Salzburg Congress Convention Centre

Honorarium and Travel Expenses: $53,743 [€50,000]. In addition to the Fee, the host will pay for first-class airfare to and from the event city for Speaker and up to one (1) staff member, as well as hotel accommodations, ground transportation, meals and incidentals.

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Saskia Bricmont @saskiabricmont.bsky.social · 8d

Public money is funding spyware!

With 39 MEPs from 4 political groups, we are writing to the @ec.europa.eu to express deep concerns following @ftm.eu revelations that EU financed spyware companies!

This must stop! We call on full transparency and follow up on the PEGA committee recommendations!

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Peter Teffer @peterteffer.bsky.social · 8d

The European Commission budgeted €1.8 million to develop its access to documents portal 'EASE'.

But the technical system behind this modernised FOI platform has some limitations, @alexfanta.bsky.social and I learned when envelopes with USB sticks started arriving...

www.ftm.eu/articles/wha...

What Europe’s fishing boom hides beneath the surface

Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism

www.ftm.eu

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 12d

So weird. No review of The Hack in either the Sun or the Times. Wonder why.

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Lukasz Olejnik @lukaszolejnik.bsky.social · 13d

My comment on @politico.eu. The European Commission's explanation for Ursula von der Leyen deleting messages on instant messengers “due to lack of space” sounds bizarre in 2025. Security is important. But so is public transparency for officials. www.politico.eu/article/dele...

Deleting texts to save space, Ursula? ‘It’s not the 1990s.’

Tech experts debunk the European Commission’s policy of deleting its president’s phone messages to “save space.”

www.politico.eu

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

Of course, this can not stand! I filed another complaint with the European Ombudsman, which has decided to open an investigation. (See press release above.) The Commission will have to explain itself, at the very least.

Stay tuned!

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

3.) The Commission admits using auto-delete on VDL's Signal messages - which means we likely won't see any of them, ever. Which means, nobody except the Commission gets to see and decide about keeping a document, let alone give access to it. That means any judicial review - poof - out of the window.

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

2.) The Commission claims it did not have to keep the messages because, essentially, Macron had said similar things in public before. Which sounds like an excuse, is an excuse, should never be allowed to work as an excuse.

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

1.) VDL's chief of staff Björn Seibert appears to have allowed the deletion of a document after someone (in that case me) made a request for it. Absolute no-no! If this flies, not internal document is safe.

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

🤯 Ursula von der Leyen's text messages are under investigation - again! This time, its about a Signal message sent by Emmanuel Macron to VDL, which the Commission lost - once again - around the time I made a request for it.

This is troubling for three reasons: 🧵

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 15d

Yep, that was me again

European Ombudsman @ombudsman.europa.eu · 15d

We have launched an inquiry following a complaint regarding how @ec.europa.eu managed a request for access to documents related to a text message concerning trade negotiations with Mercosur countries.

Ombudswoman opens inquiry into how Commission handled access request for text message concerning Mercosur negotiations

After receiving a complaint, European Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho decided to open an inquiry into how the European Commission handled an access to document...

www.ombudsman.europa.eu

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Adrienne Fichter @adfichter.bsky.social · 20d

Wir werden alle Datenfutter für die KI von LinkedIn (zu Microsoft zugehörig), wenn wir uns nicht wehren. LinkedIn nutzt das Opt-Out-Land Schweiz aus (ob EU weiss ich nicht). Und setzt den Toogle bei uns allen auf ON.

Ja, es ist verdammt frech.

Hier ⬇️aussteigen:
www.linkedin.com/mypreference...

Daten zur Verbesserung generativer KI
Darf LinkedIn Ihre auf LinkedIn erstellten personenbezogenen Daten und Inhalte verwenden, um generative KI-Modelle von LinkedIn zu schulen, die zum Erstellen von Inhalten verwendet werden?

Ihre Daten zum Schulen von KI-Modellen verwenden, um Inhalte zu erstellen

ein/aus

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Follow the Money EU @ftm.eu · 21d

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni vowed to solve Italy’s migration challenges by building offshore migrant centres in Albania to process asylum seekers. Three years on, the hubs are half-empty, construction costs have ballooned into millions and courts keep stalling progress.

Podcast | Meloni's €70-million migration fiasco

When Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ran her election campaign in 2022, she promised a bold solution to Italy’s migration issues: building offshore migrant centres in Albania. But three years la...

www.ftm.eu

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 23d

Find this in our latest newsletter, free to read:
www.ftm.nl/nieuwsbrieve...

EU shields defence spendings from public scrutiny

Follow the Money - Platform voor onderzoeksjournalistiek

www.ftm.nl

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 23d

Our latest on the Huaweigata saga, and OLAF's failure to act years ago

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 26d

Das wäre doch ein schönes Thema für Moment.at: Warum sich die Wiener Stadtregierung und die Wiener SPÖ mit dem Thema Fahrradfahren so schwer tun.

MOMENT.at

MOMENT.at bietet unabhängigen Journalismus mit Haltung im Interesse der Vielen über Politik & Gesellschaft: Klimakrise, Arbeit, Kapitalismus und Ungleichheit.

Moment.at

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Emma du Chatinier @emmaduchatinier.bsky.social · 28d

In 2021, von der Leyen texted Pfizer’s CEO ahead of a multi-billion € vaccine deal. When @alexfanta.bsky.social
asked to see the texts, the Commission refused. In episode #9 of the @ftm.eu podcast, we unpack #Pfizergate with @lise-witteman.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...

Von der Leyen’s secret texts with Pfizer

Podcast Episode · Follow the Money: The Podcast · 10/09/2025 · 24m

podcasts.apple.com

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 28d

I appreciate the candor

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Reposted by Alexander Fanta

Follow the Money EU @ftm.eu · 28d

When journalist Alexander Fanta requested access to text messages between Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer, the European Commission refused – and they have still never seen the light of day. In this episode, we unpack Pfizergate: the scandal that has dogged von der Leyen’s presidency.

Podcast | Von der Leyen’s secret texts with Pfizer

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission struck a multi-billion-euro deal with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for vaccine doses. In preparations to the deal, Commission President U...

www.ftm.eu

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Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 28d

Could you give some more context?

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