Thread by @DaveKeating

A furious-looking @EP_President Metsola is now addressing the Parliament on #Qatargate.

"It would be no exaggeration to say that these have been among the longest days of my career. I must choose my words carefully, in a manner that does not jeapordise ongoing investigations..."

"...so if my fury, my anger, my sorrow do not come across, please be assured they are very much present along with my determination for this house to grow stronger."

"Make no mistake, the European Parliament is under attack. European democracy is under attack."

"Enemies of democracy, for whom the very existence of this parliament is a threat, will stop at nothing.Malign actors linked to autocratic 3rd countries have allegedly weaponised NGOs, unions, individuals, assistants & members of 🇪🇺Parliament in an effort to subdue our processes"

"...their malicious plans failed. Our services, of whom I am incredibly proud, have been working with relevent national law enforcement and judicial authorities to break up this alleged criminal network" says @EP_President.

Seems to suggests EP knew these arrests were coming.

Metsola is convening a conference of presidents meeting tomorrow morning to fire #EvaKaili.

A planned vote on liberalising EU visas for Qataris has been shelved

"We are not at the end of the road. We will continue to assist in investigations together with other EU institutions"

"I must be clear: the allegations are not about Left or Right" says Metsola, who is from Right (so far the suspects have been from Left). "Or North or South"

"This is about right and wrong. I would appeal to you to resist the temptation to exploit this moment for political gain"

"There will be no business as usual, no sweeping under the carpet," Metsola tells MEPS.

"We will launch an internal investigation to look at all the facts related to the parliament and to look at how our systems can become yet more watertight."

"We will launch a reform process to see who has access to our premises. How these organisations, NGOs & people, are funded. What 3rd country links they have"

"We'll ask for more transparency on meetings with foreign actors& those linked to them. We will shake up this parliament"

"But I must also say while we can always look to increase deterrence & transparency, there will always be some for whom a bag of cash is worth the risk"

"What is essential is these people understand they will get caught & they'll face the full extent of the law as happened here"

"To those malign actors in [foreign] countries who think Europe is for sale, who think they can take over our NGOs, let me say you'll find this Parliament firmly in your way"

"We are Europeans. We would rather be cold than bought"

A strong speech from @EP_President Metsola.

Some quick post-speech analysis: more than a few people in the room would have heard some allusions to #Russia in Metsola's words about nefarious foreign actors.

Rumors have been swirling about Russian attempts to buy MEPs as well. Is that the next shoe to drop?