Sunday

28th May 2023

EU parliament robbery was 'inside job,' officials say

  • The European Parliament has been struck again by armed robbers (Photo: macspite)

Armed robbers have struck the European Parliament again, the third such attack in two years. Individuals close to the investigation say they are convinced it is an inside job.

Preliminary reports from parliamentary sources suggest that around 2:30 in the afternoon, two individuals entered the post office.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Wielding a gun, the robbers reported forced the assistants in the post office to open the safe, according to individuals familiar with the events.

Parliament spokeswoman Marjorie van den Broeke confirmed to EUobserver: "There was a hold up this afternoon where two people robbed the post office."

No one was hurt, said Ms van den Broeke. The thieves made off with some €8,000.

The building was immediately locked down in the wake of the robbery. Police tape was finally removed at 5pm after forensic investigators had completed their survey of the post office.

Police have launched an inquiry in co-operation with the chamber's security services, who are now poring over CCTV camera tapes.

A senior parliamentary official involved in the investigation who did not wish to be named told EUobserver: "Obviously this is coming from people within the EU community. We are convinced."

"It's a Friday afternoon, there are very few MEPs or anyone about. It's the perfect time. The other robbery was when Gorbachev was here and the security was paying attention elsewhere in the building. How do you know these sort of things unless you are part of the EU community?"

"It could be assisants, there are dozens of companies that come in and out, journalists. Technically, it could even be MEPs."

In February, 2009, an ING Bank in the building was also help up and a female cashier was robbed in May 2010. The post office attack appears to be the smallest of the three operations, according to information from the postal services, although no figures have been released.

During the 2009 robbery, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev had been attending an international water conference only two floors above at the time.

Christofer Fjellner, Swedish centre-righ MEP told this site: "The building has a total of 1001 security cameras. How are we spending all this money on cameras and they don't help?"

The leader of the UK Liberal Democrats Fiona Hall was in the post office minutes after the assault: "I was looking for a leaflet on postage prices and I looked up and the poor woman seemed in shock. I asked her if she was all right and she said: 'No, we've just had a hold up.'"

"This is absolutely shocking. After the third robberty inside the parliament, it's clear that something seriously wrong is undermining the security."

Every day, thousands of officials, politicians, visitors and journalists must pass through metal detectors and provide identification to gain access to the bullding.

"It's too early to speculate whether this was an inside job, but we need a fundamental reconsideration of our security system."

British Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope called the robbery a disgrace: ""The security in the European Parliament has long been well-known as lackadaisical, but this is really ceasing to be a joke. It's about time something were done."

"This time is was a hold-up but how long before someone walks in with a bomb?"

The head of the parliament's press service, Jaume Duch, told this website that tightening security may not be the answer: "While this is shocking that this has happened again, we have to remember that this is a parliament, not Fort Knox, and it cannot be. It must be open to all citizens. Sometimes we have as many as 10,000 individuals in the building at a time.

"We can't say that, for example, a doubling of the number of security cameras would do anything at all. We have to balance security and openness."

EUobserved

EU parliament's fading welcome

Two years ago Kurdish activists stormed the EU parliament, triggering new security measures. But they've led to visitors to have a bad first impression of the house of their democratic representation.

MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024

"This will be the first time a member state that is under the Article 7 procedure will take over the rotating presidency of the council," French Green MEP Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, the key lawmaker on Hungary, warned.

European Parliament scales back luxury MEP pension fund

The European Parliament's Bureau, a political body composed of the president and its vice-presidents, decided to slash payouts from the fund by 50 percent, freeze automatic indexations, and increase the pension age from 65 to 67.

WhoisWho? Calls mount to bring back EU directory

NGOs and lobbyists slammed the EU commission for removing contact details of non-managerial staff from its public register, arguing that the institution is now less transparent.

Exclusive

MEP luxury pension held corporate assets in tax havens

While the European Parliament was demanding a clamp down on tax havens, many of its own MEPs were using their monthly office allowances to finance a luxury pension scheme that held corporate assets in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere.

Column

What a Spanish novelist can teach us about communality

In a world where cultural clashes and sectarianism seems to be on the increase, Spanish novelist Javier Cercas (b.1962) takes the opposite approach. He cherishes both life in the big city and in the countryside.

Opinion

Poland and Hungary's ugly divorce over Ukraine

What started in 2015 as a 'friends-with-benefits' relationship between Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński, for Hungary and Poland, is ending in disgust and enmity — which will not be overcome until both leaders leave.

Latest News

  1. How the EU's money for waste went to waste in Lebanon
  2. EU criminal complicity in Libya needs recognition, says expert
  3. Europe's missing mails
  4. MEPs to urge block on Hungary taking EU presidency in 2024
  5. PFAS 'forever chemicals' cost society €16 trillion a year
  6. EU will 'react as appropriate' to Russian nukes in Belarus
  7. The EU needs to foster tech — not just regulate it
  8. EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us