Senior politicians, trade unionists, and the partner of a European leader are tied to a shadowy Italian network that has been credibly accused of striking at the core of European institutions. Train Y Morocco. A web of corruption and espionage whose reach remains partly veiled, yet visible enough to provoke a distant storm that seemed ready to fade into memory.
Veteran actor Antonio Panzeri
More than three decades ago, the Italian at the heart of the mega scandal known as Qatargate stood as a symbol in Milan. At a time when Europe was still reeling from the fall of the Berlin Wall, Italian politics faced a storm. Panzeri, once a prominent trade unionist, weathered the upheaval in a way that left him far from the central accusations of corruption and espionage tied to Qatar, Morocco, and a web of Italian and European lobbyists.
The charges against Panzeri are grave. Leaked reports from Belgian media suggest the MEP, who led the non-governmental organization Combating Impunity from 2004 to 2019, allegedly sought to sway European Parliament decisions to improve Qatar’s image in ways that went beyond ordinary lobbying, in return for substantial sums of money.
Yet this is only the tip of a broader iceberg. Documents cited by national outlets in recent hours show Panzeri as part of a framework that allegedly included Morocco’s Directorate General for Labor and Documentation, Rabat’s counterintelligence arm. The suspicion is that Panzeri acted as a conduit, offering services to a range of lobbyists and political actors, with Morocco and other interests in play.
Ironically, Panzeri was relatively unknown in Italian circles until this scandal erupted. In his youth, he joined the Italian Communist Party and later became a prominent figure in European Parliament politics, riding the crest of a center-left coalition that existed until 2007 and gathered heirs of Christian Democracy and the PCI. The coalition’s successor, the Democratic Party, later drew Panzeri in as a member of parliament, though his prominence would later fade from the spotlight.
Handsome Francesco Giorgi
Francesco Giorgi, the son of a teacher and a school principal, has been deeply involved alongside Panzeri. He is the former aide to Panzeri and the partner of Eva Kaili, a Greek member of the European Parliament who was removed from her vice-presidency after the scandal surfaced. Giorgi, known in Brussels as a loyalty figure, was detained after a deposition and is said to have provided crucial information during Belgian investigations, acknowledging that his actions supported Qatar and Morocco.
Giorgi, a Political Science graduate from Milan, moved to Brussels in 2009 where his career aligned with Panzeri and European socialists. He later worked as an assistant to an Italian deputy, maintaining ties to officials connected to Maghreb diplomacy. When questioned by Belgian judges while trying to clear Kaili, Giorgi reportedly admitted to doing things he says were not for money, a line that has become a focal point in the broader inquiry.
Giorgi’s early career centered in Milan as a regional political figure before shifting to Brussels, a transition that linked him to a network spanning the Italian left and European institutions, raising questions about the influence and reach of lobbying in high-stakes governance.
Andrea Cozzolino, resigned
Francesco Giorgi’s superior, Andrea Cozzolino, has not yet been arrested or formally charged, though the investigation has touched Giorgi and Panzeri. Born in Naples and a member of the Italian Democratic Party, Cozzolino rose through the ranks as an emergency coordinator for the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament before splitting from that bloc.
Recent press leaks in Italy hint at Morocco-linked bribery that may have occurred in coordination with Panzeri. Cozzolino has denied all wrongdoing, insisting he had no awareness of the broader inquiry, stating that he had neither been questioned nor investigated. He maintains he was unaware of the full scope of the investigation.
In Italy, Cozzolino’s profile is lower, but in Brussels his prior role as an Agriculture Council member and his roots in the Campania region mark him as a figure with regional connections that extended into the heart of the European political machine.
Notably, Luca Visentini, a prominent union leader, has also figured in the ongoing saga, with his name surfacing in relation to this sprawling case.
Unionist Luca Visentini
Luca Visentini, arrested and then released, has been a long-time associate of the Italian UIL union and served as general secretary at the International Trade Union Confederation, the world’s largest federation of unions. Born in 1969 in Udine, Visentini studied philosophy and rose to prominence after arguing for Qatar’s progress on workers’ rights in a Trieste university interview. He asserted that Qatar could be presented as a success story, despite mounting evidence from human rights organizations about the deaths of thousands of migrant workers during the 2010s in World Cup facilities.
The issue has gained particular gravity because one of Qatar’s apparent objectives ahead of the World Cup is to secure visible support from Western unions.
The case has turned into a wider probe about how influence and money intersect with governance, labor rights, and the diplomacy surrounding major global events. The saga continues to unfold, drawing in players from Brussels, Milan, and beyond, each with their own stake in shaping the narrative around Qatar and the Maghreb region.