Daniel Attard welcomes bugging of Huawei football box as 'good news'

Labour MEP Daniel Attard has said it is "good news" that his conversations with a Huawei lobbyist during a football match were secretly recorded. 

“It gives me comfort to know that there is proof that confirms what I have been saying,” Attard said while speaking on Andrew Azzopardi’s RTK103 show on Saturday.

Attard and other MEPs have found themselves caught in the middle of a Belgian bribery investigation centred around a leading Huawei lobbyist.

The investigation into Attard was triggered after the MEP attended an Anderlecht football match at Huawei’s company box at the club stadium. Attard claims he was invited to the match by an assistant and was unaware that the invitation originated from Huawei, a Chinese technology firm. 

The Belgian police requested that Attard’s immunity, together with that of at least another four MEPs, be lifted. Attard, vowing to clear his name, also wrote to European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, asking for his immunity to be lifted.

On Friday, a Politico report revealed that Belgian police had obtained secret recordings of conversations that took place at the box in the football stadium.

“For me, the news that emerged yesterday about the bugging of the box is good news,” Attard said on Saturday

Attard explained that while at the VIP section, he had a conversation with the individual under investigation, who expressed interest in discussing Huawei. They agreed to set up a follow-up meeting.

“I planned this meeting during a time when I was not aware that Huawei were under investigation,” Attard said, adding that the company is listed on the European Union’s transparency register, which keeps tabs on lobbying activities.

He also pointed out that between September and February, Huawei representatives met with around 22 MEPs while registered as official lobbyists.

Huawei has long been under the spotlight, with Belgian investigators putting the company on its watchlist back in 2023 over concerns of Chinese espionage into European institutions.

But the investigation kicked into gear last month, with Belgian investigators suspecting Huawei of having bribed as many as 15 current or former MEPs.

Belgian media have reported that investigators believe lobbyists would offer MEPs gifts, including Huawei smartphones and tickets to Huawei’s private box at the Anderlecht football stadium, in exchange for favourable political positions.