30 Facts About Eva Kaili

Eva Kaili is a Greek politician who was a member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2024.

Eva Kaili served as one of fourteen vice presidents of the European Parliament from January 2022 until she was arrested in December 2022 and charged with corruption as part of the Qatar corruption scandal at the European Parliament.

In February 2024, Eva Kaili announced she would not run for re-election as an MEP.

Eva Kaili has a younger sister, Madalena, who is CEO of ELONTech, an organisation aligned to Kaili's parliamentary work on emerging technologies.

Eva Kaili studied architecture and civil engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Eva Kaili continued her studies at the University of Piraeus where she obtained a Master of Arts degree in international and European affairs in 2008.

Eva Kaili was a newscaster at Mega Channel from 2004 until 2007.

Eva Kaili retained her seat in the 2009 national elections until 2012.

Eva Kaili was a member of the Greek delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Ahead of a crucial vote of confidence for Prime Minister, George Papandreou in November 2011, Eva Kaili made headlines when she announced that she would refuse to support the government in the vote; this would have left Papandreou with the support of just 151 PASOK deputies out of 300.

Eva Kaili later backtracked and Papandreou won the vote of confidence with all 155 lawmakers of PASOK expressing their support for his beleaguered government.

Eva Kaili was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 2014 and was a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group until her expulsion in December 2022.

Eva Kaili was vice president for Innovation Strategy, ICT, Technology, Foresight, Businesses, ESG and CSR, UN, WTO, OECD and the Middle East.

Eva Kaili has been serving on the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

Eva Kaili was an alternate member on the Committee on Budgets and on Delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula and was involved in the Commission investigating the spyware Pegasus.

Eva Kaili was the recipient of a 2018 MEP Award for New Technologies.

Eva Kaili became one of fourteen vice presidents of the European Parliament on 18 January 2022 after being elected on the first round by 454 votes.

Eva Kaili was suspended from her vice-presidential duties on 10 December 2022, following her arrest.

The arrest of Alexandros Kailis outside his hotel with the suitcase of cash led investigating judge Michel Claise to conclude that this was a case of Eva Kaili being caught In flagrante delicto; a special police team of around a dozen officers, accompanied by judge Claise in person, then headed for the home of Kaili and arrested her.

Eva Kaili did not resist, but was visibly shaken and in a state of shock and confusion, crying; Claise interrogated her for more than five hours.

At the time, there was significant criticism of the hosts within the European Union, but during a speech at the European Parliament, Eva Kaili praised the country's human rights record and criticised accusations of corruption made against Qatar.

Eva Kaili declined to exercise her right, under Belgian law, to meet with a psychologist; however, Haren Prison staff judged it necessary for her.

The psychologists were present during Eva Kaili's meeting with her daughter.

Eva Kaili's lawyers claimed that Belgian authorities were to blame for any psychological harm done to Eva Kaili, especially in her early interrogations which the lawyers contest as being legally problematic.

Eva Kaili had changed her Belgian lawyer from Andre Risopoulo to Sven Mary some time before the hearing.

Eva Kaili was released from pre-trial detention to house arrest with an electronic bracelet on 14 April 2023.

In September 2023, Eva Kaili's lawyers secured an internal investigation into how evidence against her was collected and whether her parliamentary immunity was breached.

In February 2024, Eva Kaili announced she would not run for re-election as an MEP.

Eva Kaili was being investigated for allegedly withholding parts of the salaries of her then-accredited parliamentary assistants.

Eva Kaili and her partner Francesco Giorgi, a former parliamentary assistant, have a daughter born in 2021.