European Parliament president Roberta Metsola has described how she rushed from Malta to Brussels to accompany Belgian police on a raid at an MEP's house, arriving with just minutes to spare, as the Qatar graft scandal broke.

"Nothing could have prepared me for this," Metsola told the New York Times in an interview, days before she formally unveils a raft of reforms aimed at restoring credibility in the institution.

Metsola achieved a number of firsts when she was elected president of the European Parliament a year ago, the newspaper points out. 

She was the first person from Malta to hold the job; the first woman in 20 years; and, at 43, the youngest president in the parliament’s history.

But on December 11 she also became the first president of the parliament to participate in a police raid, as part of an investigation into suspicions of criminal corruption involving bags of cash and accusations that Qatar and Morocco had sought to buy influence within the legislature.

She was at times incredulous at what had transpired, and at times wary about what lay ahead, the NY Times said. 

“Nothing could have prepared me for it, but I did what I had to do,” she said of the raid. 

On December 9, the Belgian police conducted multiple raids and arrests, with the parliament's vice-president, Eva Kaili being among those held. 

Two days after the arrests, Metsola was told she was bound by local law to be physically present for the Belgian police to raid the home of another European lawmaker implicated in the case, who was a Belgian citizen.

The raid had to happen before 9 pm to comply with Belgian police regulations.

Metsola flew from Malta to Brussels, landing just after 7.30 pm, and raced 62 miles across Belgium to the lawmaker’s home.

Before turning onto his street, in a town near the city of Liège, her driver switched off her car’s blue emergency lights and slowed down, she recalled. At a pub nearby, locals were watching the England-France World Cup quarter finals.

"At 8.51 pm, with nine minutes to spare, Metsola stood at the front door of her colleague, the Belgian lawmaker Marc Tarabella, flanked by armed officers and lawyers.

“Knocking on that door was not easy,” she said.

“It had to be done, it’s never been done before, but who knows what else will need to be done,” she added.

Metsola told the newspaper that on Monday, she will ask the parliament to lift the immunity of Tarabella and another lawmaker, Andrea Cozzolino, at the request of the Belgian authorities, paving the way for more possible arrests.

Tarabella and Cozzolino have denied wrongdoing, and said they welcomed the lifting of their immunity so they could clear their names.

Also on Monday, Metsola will also formally announce her initial proposals for a reform aimed at avoiding a repeat of the alleged graft and restoring the parliament's credibility.  

In the interview, Metsola said Kaili had earlier requested blanket authorisation to visit Doha when she wished, and that she had declined. Instead, she approved a trip so that Kaili made in October to “represent the positions of the parliament in her capacity as vice president.”  

The New York Times said Metsola acknowledged that Kaili's suspicious behaviour leading up to her arrest, including voting in favour of Qatar at a committee meeting over visa-free travel to the European Union for Qataris, might have prompted her to think twice about approving the trip.

But, she said, “the benefit of hindsight is always easy”.

Asked if she thought there would be more corruption revelations, she said, “I’m sure we’ll continue to have different requests” from the police.

“There will always be investigations. But what I hope is that we create firewalls against corruption," she told the newspaper. 

The New York Times also comments about Metsola's early trip to Kyiv to voice the EU's support to Ukraine after the Russian invasion.  

On the train to Kyiv, she said, she reflected on her days as a younger woman travelling across Europe by rail — a treasured rite of passage for many Europeans.

Then she received a call from her mother in Malta, she said, who was irate to find out from the media that her daughter was heading into a war zone.

“Southern moms, you know?”  Metsola chuckled.